US Races to Appear in UK and Ireland on Racing World
U.S. horse track owners and operators Churchill Downs Incorporated and Magna Entertainment Corp. have reached a definitive agreement to partner with British media rights management firm Racing UK to broadcast races from Churchill downs and Magna tracks (as well as other international tracks to the United Kingdom and Ireland) on television channel Racing World. The channel launched on March 8 with live racing from Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Oaklawn Park, Santa Anita Parkway and Turfway Park, and coverage will expand in the spring and summer when live racing resumes at Arlington Park, Bay Meadows Race Course, Calder Race Course, Churchill Downs, Hollywood Park, Keeneland Race Course, Lone Star Park and Pimlico Race Course. Magna and Churchill Downs will provide racing content, while Racing UK will manage the day-to-day operations of the channel. Magna and Churchill Downs will take ownership positions in Racing World and will contribute their respective in-home video and wagering rights in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Race Wagering Used to Draw New Customers to Shopping Network
A Japanese company called Rakuten Inc. plans to begin taking wagers on races at four tracks in the southern Kanto area of Japan within the year. The company operates an online shopping network and will limit betting tickets to the network's members, using the ability to bet to attract new members.
Betfair's Wray on Starting Prices
Betfair's co-founder and director, Ed Wray, spoke at the Global Betting and Gaming Seminar at London's Café Royal in late March on the subject of starting prices. Wray stated, "While we are quite happy with the current SP system because it make us look good, the system is out of date and in other areas-like financial markets-it would be viewed as protectionist and potentially illegal. We need a strong starting price system that is representative of the whole market. Exchanges are a big part of that market, so we need to be part of it as modern punters will not accept a new solution that does not represent the whole betting market."
He later added, "We trade at close to 100 percent so that is effectively the perfect book. An individual bookmaker can settle on the BWAP (Betfair Weighted Average Price) and then put on whatever margin they want. The bookmaker obviously wants to maximize his profits and at the minute they are settling on SPs with very tight margins."
Wray's statements sparked much debate and criticism. David Hood, director of racing and public relations for William Hill, rebutted, "Betfair have talked to us before about this idea of wholesale prices. How can they possibly get involved with the SP mechanism when there is no guaranteed amount to lay I don't know. With a fancied runner on Betfair you struggle to get £20 on sometimes let alone £1,000 and one of the criteria of the SP is that a horse has to be available to reasonable money."
Hong Kong to Reform Betting Duty
The Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has approved a set of proposals that seek to reform the duty system on Hong Kong horse race wagering to better combat the illegal betting market in Hong Kong and to increase the amount of revenue to the government. The proposed system would replace the current tax on turnover with a progressive tax on gross profits and also allow the Hong Kong Jockey Club to provide rebates to high rollers who lose money with the Club. Under the new proposal, horse race betting duty will be imposed on the Hong Kong Jockey Club's gross profit or net stake receipts after dividends for winning bets and rebates have been taken out of the betting poll. At the moment betting duty is imposed on betting turnover. The proposed progressive tax plan would apply a rate of 72.5 percent on gross profits that are less than HK$11 billion (US$1.4 billion). The rate would increase by half a percentage point for every 1 billion HK dollars up to HK$15 billion (US$1.9 billion), at which point the rate would reach its maximum rate of 75 percent. Before going into effect, the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2006 must first gain final approval from the Legislative Council on April 26.
At the Races Law Suit Laid to Rest
A High Court dispute between Britain's two dedicated horse racing television channels ended in March when At The Races agreed to accept £1 million to settle its complaint against Racing UK. At The Races had actually sought a sum of £55 million from the 30 race courses that now constitute Racing UK after the courses bailed out of the first failed At The Races venture, but the case had not proceeded as At the Races had planned and Racing UK had launched a counter-claim against At The Races for £200 million. Racing UK has dropped its counter-claim as part of the agreement, and there is now expectation that the two companies might eventually cooperate on a project to market British racing to the rest of the world.
Mobile Network Acquires Aussie Wagering Service
AskMeNow, a mobile network through which users can call or text any question and receive an answer within a few minutes, has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Karell Party Limited, the holding company for Capital Play Party Limited, a fully-licensed Australian wagering services group that provides access to North American pari-mutuel horse racing pools. The acquisition will enable AskMeNow's customers to place real-time wagers via their mobile phones in regions where such activity is legal. Under the terms of the agreement, AskMeNow will acquire privately held Karrel for 20 million restricted common shares of Ocean West Holding Corporation (the parent company of AskMeNow) and a capital contribution of $4 million.