Quoteworthy -- "Gamblers are voters, wealthy, and have rights too, and we expect that many American gamblers will voice their opinions on the electoral process, especially how the current state of affairs affects their rights. This poll is an excellent means for us to further establish the will of millions of patriotic American gamblers. Online gambling is legal according to the recent WTO ruling and will continue to grow. The winner of our Internet poll will get a $100,000 donation from CasinoFortune.com. We are confident the winner will respect the rights Americans who wish to gamble and realize the importance of regulating and taxing our huge industry."
-- Dennis Rose, senior vice president of CasinoFortune.com, which on April 1 launched a poll for the upcoming U.S. presidential election. As of this morning, 6,969 people had voted, giving John F. Kerry the lead with 56 percent of the votes while incumbent George W. Bush had 44 percent of the votes.
Horse Racing Channel -- The Racing Post reports that seven more British tracks have either signed or are about to sign a contract with the Horse Racing Channel, the proposed new daily subscription-based TV service that several tracks are attempting to organize. With the new tracks--Beverley, Catterick, Pontefract, Redcar, Thirsk, Wetherby and Musselburgh--the channel has now gained approval from 27 of the country's 59 tracks, constituting 564 (42 percent) of the 1,341 meetings on this year's racing calendar. The channel's promoters say they already have the support of enough tracks to be able to assemble a program of fixtures that could offer a minimum of two meetings on most days.
Redesign -- VIPcasino.com has redesigned the lobby of its Web site in what it calls a push to give VIP players the customized service they deserve. The new lobby features active hotlinks that take players directly to the most popular casino games in each category. The company's Casino Relations Manager, Kate Berkeley, says she is focused on greater player involvement in the development of VIPcasino.com.
Track Sponsor -- Gamebookers, an international betting group that last week announced it had received a bookmaker's license in Ireland to add to its licenses in the United Kingdom, Austria and Antigua, signed sponsorship deals with Windsor and Salisbury racecourses order to promote its horse race betting services. Gamebookers will place advertisements on the rails and distribute promotional material at both courses.
Sports Marketing -- Research and Markets, a provider of international market research and market data, has published a report titled "The Business of Sports Marketing," which reviews the current state of the sports marketing industry and explains how it will likely develop in the next decade and what issues will be critical. Among some of the topics included in the report are sports marketing and its relationship to the Internet, described in subsections dealing with gambling, video streaming, e-commerce, SMS and 3G.
Security Lacking -- The U.K. Department of Trade and Industry published its "Information Security Breaches Survey 2004" this week, warning that viruses, hackers and spam are a growing problem because British firms are not paying enough attention to IT security. According to the report, most companys spend less than 1 percent of their IT budget on security systems, and many have failed to improve their performance on IT security issues that were brought to their attention after the 2002 survey. The department expects that the security market should grow to 7 percent of most companies' overall IT budget by 2007. Mobile security is expected to grow even faster, increasing by 71 percent to $1.27 billion in 2007.
Pagcor to Face Corruption Charges -- Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) is likely to face charges from several complainants in a corruption case alleging that the company engaged in deals that cost the government at least $8 million in revenue. One group, PlunderWatch, plans to file the complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman after the country's elections on May 10. PlunderWatch Convenor Carol Araullo said that the $8 million had been diverted to Pagcor's seven private partners in slot machine arcade operations. Araullo said the government also lost $3.7 million in income because the percentage share of Pagcor's partners was not remitted to the national treasury. The Philippine Sports Commission is also thought to have lost out on $186,000. Aruallo stated that President Macapagal-Arroyo should be held accountable for allowing Pagcor's abuses to occur. PlunderWatch and the groups have asked the president to prove that she did not approve Pagcor's dealings by demanding the resignation of Pagcor's board members.