The Bodog brand was founded as an online gambling company in 2000, while Ayre was working as a technology supplier to established online gambling companies. Unlike most of his competitors, Ayre chose a company name that made no reference to gambling in order not to limit the brand’s future scope. Ayre has spoken at length about the criteria that factored into coming up with the Bodog name, including having six letters or fewer, being easy to spell and pronounce, and having some personality.[1]
With Ayre serving as the company’s CEO and pitchman, the Bodog gambling site quickly became a market leader, culminating in Ayre’s appearance on the 2006 Forbes Magazine ‘billionaires’ issue.[2] In the same year, Bodog relocated its global headquarters from Costa Rica to Antigua.[3] By that time, the Bodog brand was associated with the Bodog Music record label,[4] the Bodog Fight MMA league and its associated television series,[5] as well as the annual Bodog.com Poker and Sports Marketing Conference in Las Vegas.[6] In keeping with Ayre’s Scots lineage, Bodog had its own tartan officially recognized by the Scottish Tartans Authority.[7]
The Bodog name also lent itself to charitable efforts including Bodog Salutes The Troops, a weekend-long music festival and poker tournament held in Hawaii in 2006 for the benefit of the Fisher House Foundation, which provides accommodation for families of US military veterans undergoing hospital treatment.[8]