LOS ANGELES -– In an effort to provide its members access to the finest in high-tech data and services, You Bet!, Inc. (OTC BB: UBET), the first interactive horseracing network to enter the market in the U.S., is joining forces with Thoro-Graph, Inc.
Thoro-Graph will supply the You Bet Racing Network with daily performance figures in graphs in hopes of enabling serious handicapper to accurately gauge ability, examine form cycles, and distinguish contenders from pretenders.
"The profile of our customer base is the serious handicapper who bets a significant amount of money, and You Bet appears to be a natural fit for Thoro-Graph reaching its target market," said Thoro-Graph President Jerry Brown.
"Racing is a data-driven sport, and sophisticated handicapping tools are an essential component of the You Bet Network," said Katherine Wilkins, You Bet's Executive Vice President of Marketing & Business Development. "The Thoro-Graph products are highly respected and are of significant value to our members."
You Bet's marketing campaign targets three distinct markets: frequent horse players currently online who would utilize high-end handicapping products (Yankelovich partners estimates that there were 1.7 million horse players online in 1996.); online stock traders and other gamblers (Forbes ASAP magazine notes that there are currently 4 million people trading stock online.); and the main stream adult (18+) online community. (Cyber Dialogue identified 41.5 million adults online at the end of 1997.)
In recent months, You Bet has built quite a stable of strategic partners to create a 24-hour online racing entertainment network and to reach its targeted markets. Thoro-Graph, Inc. joins Ladbroke Racing, Pennsylvania; Equibase Company; Concentric Network Corporation; Thoroughbred Sports Network, Inc.; the United States Trotting Association; and Bright Design—along with ten racetracks across the country—to provide service to horse bettors.
You Bet is currently in limited release of America's first interactive online horseracing service. After public release in late spring 1998, You Bet will provide members the ability to watch and wager on a wide selection of racing from throughout the world, through its exclusive private network. Subscribers will select from a variety of membership packages, consisting of bundles of traditional handicapping information and connect time, along with the You Bet proprietary software. Members have full access to the network's features and benefits, including live audio/video, up-to-the minute track information, real-time wagering information, value-added handicapping products, racing news, and an online customer support center.
You Bet!, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based interactive technology company that facilitates live events and is focused on content development, network deployment, and management services via a cross-platform environment. Its mission is to be the premier technology and service provider for interactive wagering worldwide, and to create a widely accessible interactive race and sports environment, filled with rich and exciting content. It developed and deployed the world's first PC-based wagering platform and transaction processing software. For further information, visit the company's website at http://www.youbet.com or contact Virginia Rodriguez at (310) 444-3300.
Thoro-Graph's aim is to raise horse players' handicapping to a new level and to providing horse players with everything they need to achieve this. The company's daily product consists of performance figures on a graph for each horse running that day. The figures take into account time, weight carried and beaten lengths, as well as information from track men concerning ground loss and wind. It also provides an overview of the trainers' records for each horse entered. For more on Thoro-Graph, go to http://www.thorograph.com or call 800-331-3778.