Codere Inks Racing Deals in Brazil
The jockey club in Río Grande do Sul and the Spanish group Codere announced an agreement last week to promote horse racing in Brazil. Codere will invest $17 million over the next 10 years to promote betting on Brazilian races throughout the country. Codere will also collect, through its own agencies, all the bets on races held in Brazil as well as abroad. Its first venue in Brazil will be located in the city of Porto Alegre, will require an estimated investment of $429,000 and is expected to open in December. The company also signed agreements with jockey clubs in Rio de Janeiro and Paraná.
BC Braces for Virtual Racing
The B.C. Lottery Corporation is installing plasma TV screens in more than 350 establishments where patrons can bet from $1 to $20 on simulated races. The "Racetrax" system enables users to bet on simulated horse, car and harness racing in pubs throughout the province. The corporation has made no official announcement, but a spokeswoman said it expects to install the product in 500 bars across the province by the end of the fiscal year. When asked how the new game squares with a Liberal promise to stop the expansion of gambling, Solicitor-General John Les
responded, "I'm not sure that this really is an expansion. For the most part, what this is, it's a modernization."
NY Rebate Shop Ban
Officials with the New York State Racing and Wagering Board have implemented a rule preventing the state's racetracks from doing business with off-shore betting firms that offer rebates to clients. Including all racetracks in New York in the prohibition is cosmetic because only the three operated by the New York Racing Association--Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga--have done business with the firms to any significant degree. NYRA earlier this year refused to accept wagers from 10 rebate firms after a federal indictment was brought against several organized crime figures in a scheme that involved four such firms, none of which is charged with a crime. The move has cost NYRA dearly and accounts for much of a $20 million decline in handle at Saratoga through the first 30 days of the current meeting.
Fly-By Ads in New York
Leading offshore rebate shop TCBets.com has taken an aggressive approach to marketing itself in the wake of the New York bans. The site recently flew 100 foot-long banner reading "Why bet at the track?" above the track at Saratoga Springs--a slap in the face to state officials trying to keep the rebate shops in check. TCBets.com, considered by many racing publications (including The original Horse Racing Guide) to be the largest offshore race book in the world, plans to repeat the promotion at several additional tracks.
Bad Year for NYRA
The New York Racing Association lost nearly $16 million last year, according to financial information released this week. The net loss of $15.98 million is $6.15 million less than NYRA's $22.3 million shortfall in the year 2003. "It's about what we expected," NYRA senior vice president Bill Nader said of the loss. "The industry economics are unfavorable, that's the first thing. The system in New York is broken. I think we need a complete reset. That would be for NYRA or any other entity in New York." Nader was reluctant to go into details about the "broken" system other than to say NYRA paid $17 million in property taxes last year. He said NYRA is working to develop a new business model it can use to secure the right to run its three tracks after its current state franchise expires in 2007.
IAS Buys Out AusTote
Mark Read's International All Sports (IAS) has announced to the Australian Stock Exchange that it is purchasing fledgling totalisator AusTote from PH Holdings Ltd. and Austote Pty Ltd. IAS will provide an initial sum of $250,000 and an additional $250,000 after 12 months in exchange for no less than 76 percent of the shares of Austote Pty Ltd. AusTote, the first new totalisator licensed in Australia in several decades, is unique in that it is entirely Internet-based. With commission rates as low as 2 percent, it enjoys the same operational efficiencies as betting exchanges like Betfair, enabling it to offer much better returns to punters than traditional TABs with their 17 percent deductions.