TVG Inks Deal in California
In a deal that will give it exposure in a major market, TV Games Network has reached a two-year agreement to exclusively air live Southern California horseracing on FOX Sports Net West (FSN) and FOX Sports Net West 2 (FSN2).
Two hours of daily live racing will be featured, beginning with the Hollywood Park meet April 24, and continue through the year with daily coverage from Del Mar, Fairplex Park, Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park and the fall meet at Hollywood Park. Racing from Los Alamitos and other TVG partner tracks may be included.
Racing from other California tracks may be offered in the applicable time periods if those tracks reach an agreement with TVG.
BHB and Bookmakers Reach Landmark Agreement
Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral, Stanleys and Dones today each signed five-year deals with the British Horseracing Board for the commercial use of data for their British betting shops as well as their telephone and Internet operations
Assuming that other British and Irish bookmakers follow suit, the deal should be worth in excess of £600 million to British Racing over the next five years, the BHB said.
The agreement signifies the first partnership between racing officials and betting shops, which have long been on different sides of the fence on numerous topics.
BHB Chairman, Peter Savill is hopeful that cementing the deal will create new channels of communication between the two sides.
"This is an historic day for the British racing and betting industries," he said in a statement. "We have agreed to a long-term deal which will enable us to put aside our previous differences and work together to develop British Racing as a sport with an increasing appeal to punters, spectators, viewers and those who work in the industry. I have no doubt that this new prosperity for racing will touch every facet of the sport."
Under the agreement bookmakers will now be allowed to carry entry lists for races and weights of horses in exchange for a certain percentage of profits made off of betting.
Churchill Downs Nabs Scientific Games as Partner
Scientific Games announced that its subsidiary, Autotote Systems, was awarded the satellite broadcasting rights by Churchill Downs Incorporated for Churchill Downs racetrack, Ellis Park and Hoosier Park. The contract is for three years.
Autotote Systems currently provides satellite-broadcast services for two other CDI racetracks--Arlington Park in suburban Chicago and Hollywood Park in the Los Angeles area. Autotote Systems is also CDI's partner in NASRIN Services, LLC, which provides telecommunications consulting, network management and long-distance services related to simulcasting. Autotote Systems owns 70 percent of NASRIN Services and manages the company on a day-to-day basis.
New Laws Have Arena Leisure Optimistic
Arena Leisure PLC's managing director, Ian Penrose, told AFX News earlier this month that an overhaul to the gambling industry in the United Kingdom will open up new channels for the betting company.
The attheraces TV channel, a joint operation with BSkyB and Channel 4, will be launched in May. The partnership owns the rights to show racing from 49 courses, compared to 10 signed to rival The Racing Channel. Penrose said attheraces will be viewed in 6 million homes across the United Kingdom.
A new Interactive TV unit will be a key feature of attheraces business by enabling customers to place their bets through their TV sets. It will encompass Internet, mobile and radio media. The attheraces platform was launched online in December 2001.
The company also hopes to expand into "non-race-day" businesses by putting up hotels, casino and gaming halls at its racecourses, Penrose said.
Grand National Day Yields Mixed Results for Bookmakers
Grand National Day, one of the United Kingdom's biggest racing events, has yielded mixed results among leading bookmakers.
The event, held earlier this month, was the biggest betting day ever for Ladbrokes, producing an estimated £100m in turnover.
Conversely, SportingOdds.com took a major hit after it was forced to follow through with a promise to refund stakes on first-fence fallers. The company wound up paying back more than £100,000 to punters whose horses didn't make it past the first fence.
SportingOdds was hurt much more than Sports.com, which made the same pledge for fallers at Becher's Brook. In the Grand National event, nine of the 40 starters fell at the first fence, compared to two at Becher's.
In addition to refunding bets, a handful of Internet sites experienced problems on race day. Blue Square and Littlewoods' Bet Direct were both experimenting with voice recognition technology on their telephone betting services. Only a third of the 45,000 calls made to Littlewoods were accepted by the new automated system.
The betting exchanges saw huge volumes, despite Betfair suffering a suspected
denial-of-service attack that blocked access to its home page. The Racing Post reported it matched £600,000 in bets on the National.
Betdaq Racing said it matched £470,000 and had the winner Bindaree on offer at 29/1 compared to a starting price of 20/1.
Oregon Hubs Please Operators
The Oregon wagering hub jointly operated by the TV Games Network and NTRA Services in 2001 handled $45.4 million last year, more than double the handle for 2000. Meanwhile, AmericaTAB, an Ohio-based account wagering service that offers equity interest to its partners, is going great guns with its Oregon hub.
According to Oregon Racing Commission figures, the hub was operated under the auspices of NTRA Services for the first two quarters of 2001 and TVG for the last two quarters of the year. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association got out of the betting-hub business last year.
For the fourth quarter of 2001, the TVG hub handled $13.82 million, its highest three-month total to date. Handle for the second quarter of 2001 was $13 million.
AmericaTAB, which also operates a hub in Oregon, continues to gain in the marketplace. AmericaTab is the former Ohio TAB, which was based at Beulah Park.
For the third quarter of 2001, its first full quarter in Oregon, AmericaTAB handled $7.9 million. For the fourth quarter, America TAB handle jumped to $11.2 million. Mike Weiss, the Beulah Park general manager who oversees AmericaTAB, said handle has continued to grow each month in 2002.
Nebraska AG Looks for Law interruption
Nebraska Attorney General Don Stenberg plans to ask the state Supreme Court to decide whether betting on horses by telephone violates the state's constitution.
Citing a law passed 68 years ago that specifies that betting is limited "to wagering that takes place inside the confines of a racetrack", he questions whether account wagering, approved for several tracks by the state's racing board, is legal.
Courts in other states, the tracks contend, have held that on-site requirements are technically satisfied if telephone bets are recorded at a track. The tracks' attorney said telephone betting is no different than someone making a cell-phone call to a friend at a track and asking him to place a bet on their behalf.
Waterhouse Faces Banishment Again
With trouble always lurking behind him, infamous Australian bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse faces banishment from the industry yet again.
His latest troubles come after being found guilty of 16 charges by NSW Thoroughbred Racing Board stewards at the "extravagant odds" inquiry on Monday.
The charges related to bets he made on behalf of his associate, Peter McCoy, at Canterbury on February 6.
The inquiry resumes on Friday, when stewards will determine a penalty. Stewards found Waterhouse guilty of conduct prejudicial to the image of racing, two counts of misleading evidence and 13 counts relating to placing wagers that were not legitimate.
Waterhouse faces the prospect of having his bookmaker's license suspended, disqualified or revoked by NSW TRB stewards, who also have the option of fining Waterhouse $75,000 on each charge. That could amount to $1.2 million worth of fines.