Delayed Launch -- A broadband horseracing content service created through a partnership between The Racing Post and subscription-based TV channel Racing UK was tentatively due to launch today but has been set back a few weeks for testing. The service will provide live video from Racing UK's 31 tracks as well as racing forms and analysis from the Racing Post. It will also enable customers to compare odds from its five bookmaking sponsors and to place wagers with any of them. The sponsors, which have not yet been announced, will receive prominent branding and will be able to post video content on their Web sites. The service will target a new community of younger punters who typically wouldn't subscribe to the Racing UK service but still enjoy watching races online and having a punt. A pilot of the site logged over 157,000 unique user in the nine days leading up to the Grand National in April.
South Africa Online -- Betting World in July became the first licensed South African bookmaker to take wagers over the Internet. The company's Web site, www.bettingworld.co.za, is the product of a collaboration with TurfSport, a South African company that develops betting software for bookmakers. Prior to launching the Net betting service, Betting World only took bets over the counter and via telephone.
Quoteworthy -- "I feel strongly that people should be able to choose how they spend their entertainment dollars. It's none of the government's business."
- The first official statement from Jesse Ventura in his new capacity as spokesperson for online gaming company BetUS.com. Ventura has been a U.S. navy seal, a big-screen actor, a professional wrestler and ring announcer and governor of the state of Minnesota. This week he and BetUS.com will unveil an advertising campaign on Sirius Satellite Radio.
No Rebates -- The New York State Racing and Wagering Board has implemented a rule that prevents the state's racecourses from doing business with offshore betting operators that offer rebates to clients. New York Newsday reports that only the three tracks operated by the New York Racing Association have done a significant amount of business with any of the offshore firms. The New York Newsday article, which is extremely critical of the board's decision to enact the new rule, claims that the rule is a response to the federal indictment of several organized crime figures this year, which involved four offshore firms (although none of them have been charged with a crime). Soon after the indictment, NYRA refused to accept wagers from 10 of the firms--a move that New York Newsday estimates has accounted for much of the $20 million decline in NYRA's handle through the first 30 days of the current season. The firms, which offer rebates and other advantages to their highest paying customers, are thought represent more than $50 million in annual wagers.
Use Cash -- A deal between Gibraltar-licensed Trafalgar Betting & Gaming Ltd. and Ukash will enable Trafalgar's 32Red Online Casino to accept play from customers who do not have payment cards or are reluctant to use them online. Consumers can purchase Ukash vouchers at about 12,500 paypoint terminals in the United Kingdom and redeem the vouchers for services through online merchants.
Floatation Device -- Betcorp, operator of BetWWTS, has affirmed its desire to seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange by appointing KBC Peel Hunt as advisor to a possible float. The company is already listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.