UPDATE 1-Sportech enters Tote running, revamps football pools

(Adds detail, company comment)

By Marc Jones

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Britain's Sportech Plc (ROD.L) threw its hat in the ring ahead of an auction of British state-owned bookmaker the Tote on Tuesday as it scrapped its 85 year-old Littlewoods Pools brand in favour of a new image.

The UK government kicked off an open auction of the Tote earlier this month, after years of deliberation and a number of failed sale attempts.

Sportech Chief Executive Ian Penrose told Reuters the company was mainly interested in the horse race pool-betting part of the Tote although it would consider tying up with a bookmaker or other Tote bidders to carve up the business.

"We would look at it all, but our primary interest is in the pari-mutuel part."

"We would look at varying ways of achieving our interest, and that might involve a variety of routes forward," he said, adding that no talks had so far taken place with possible partners.

SCORE DRAW

The Liverpool-based firm said that after 85 years of association with the football pools, the Littlewoods name would be scrapped.

It is to be renamed The New Football Pools and revamped in time for the start of next season's soccer season.

The pools allow punters to bet on whether soccer matches are won by the home or away team or end in a draw.

At its peak in the 1980s and early 1990s, more than 10 million Britons a week played the game, ranging from avid football fans to 80 year old housewives who stuck with the same numbers for 50 years.

But the business was decimated when Britain introduced its National Lottery, with punters deserting the pools in favour of the simplicity and multi-million pound jackpots of the lottery.

The problem has compounded as bookmakers gradually started offering more soccer betting, and now around 700,000 people bet on the pools.

Having merged Britain's two pools brands -- Littlewoods and rival Vernon's which it bought last year -- Sportech plans to bring in new games and introduce million pound jackpots to lure punters back from the Lottery.