IQ-Ludorum, a leading software supplier for the interactive gaming industry, this week diversified its offerings with the introduction of a new horseracing platform.
IQ-Racing 1.0 is an integrated Web solution for wagering on thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races. It supports a live feed to deliver all of the latest racing data as well as a facility to support pari-mutuel wagering.
IQL spent more than a year working on the development and research for the product. The company's general manager of marketing, John Roberts, said the system was designed more out of customer demand than anything else.
"Our customers have really been asking for a product like this," he said. "They are effectively bookmaking operators, and horse racing is one of the key betting products in the world. They had been requesting horsing and racing applications for sometime."
Roberts said the release supports IQ-Ludorum's objective to offer its clients a broad range of gaming services delivering true single-account convenience, across the full breadth of digital media devices.
The big difference in the new software compared to what had previously been used by IQL licensees, Roberts said, is how compatible it is to wagering on racing.
"We have built a module specially for racing," he said. "We built it for horse racing but it is applicable to all types of racing. Our existing sports book platforms accept bets on horses, but this is built exactly for that."
While the software grew out of a demand from operators, officials with IQL have long realized the potential horse racing brings to an Internet sports book operation. But for that potential to be tapped, operators must be able to offer horse racing in the right manner, Roberts said. IQ-Racing is designed to do this.
"Horse racing tends to be quite a few events with a lot of runners," he said. "The key thing is presenting a lot of information in a short amount of time to place a bet. If you are betting on a football match or a baseball game there are probably a few options you have around that single game. This is geared towards a single horse in a specific race and you can then place the different bets you want on that horse."
Roberts said IQL has customers all over the world and each one has a very seasonal approach to sports betting. A lot of the action that comes into a sports book is geared toward a specific event on the sports calendar. Horseracing though, he said, is not only all year round, but can now be offered all day long with races from all over the world.
"It is a mechanism for them the level their income around the year, as well as around the day," he said. "There are a lot more wagering options worldwide using horses and this is set up to leverage that."
Using the platform, operators will be able to take in feeds from around the world and present them in a wager-friendly format for punters.
With a global approach to racing, weather it be thoroughbred, greyhound, harness or another form or racing, Roberts said operators could see a return on investment rather quickly.
"IQ-Racing gives our existing sports book clients the capability to increase and maintain year-round revenue from all racing sports," he said. "This complete racing solution for online bettors, will open up new wagering opportunities for our customers based on the hundreds of races that take place each day around the world."
IQ-Racing debuted April 18 on the site of WWTS, a pioneer in offshore sports betting.
The first version of the IQ-Racing software is designed for Internet operations. Roberts said the company hopes to update the software in another couple of months to include call centers and electronic point of sale.
"You would then be able to use this at racetracks or within licensed betting shops," he said.
For IQL, the introduction of the new software is the first of many new products that will be rolled out in the next couple of months.
Roberts said the company's next big release will be a progressive slots platform for its licensees.