Betfair Makes Bold Move in Australia
After news of a ministerial shake up in Australia, with Australian Communications Minister stepping down after seven years at the post, P2P betting exchange Betfair announced it would establish an Australian office for up to 18 months. The office will be set up to facilitate negotiations with government officials and oversee Asian operations.
One of the company's three founders will head the office; Ed Wray is a leading candidate for the spot.
Mark Davies, the company's communications director, could also join Wray in Australia.
Betfair was hoping the government would rule at the end of this month on whether the company would be granted a license to operate in Australia. With Alston's resignation, that decision could take months, or even a year.
Australian bookmakers have opposed the exchange's claims for a license and are trying to remove an exemption clause that allows Betfair to operate everywhere in the country except New South Wales.
Cubs Causing Headaches for Vegas Bookmakers
The Chicago Cubs have made a name for themselves over the last 90-plus years as Major League Baseball's "Loveable Losers," but if the team continues to have success in the postseason, they could make Las Vegas bookmakers the big losers this fall.
The Cubs, who last week won their first postseason series in 95 years, are tied with the Florida Marlins at one game a piece in the National League Championship Series. Despite years of losing, the team has always had a huge following among sports bettors, and this year was no different.
Bets on the Cubs have been building all season long. They opened at anywhere from 30-1 to 50-1 to win the World Series, but dropped to 4-1 at the end of the regular season. Heading into the series with Florida, the Cubs were 5-2 to win the Series.
"I can tell you that the Cubs winning the World Series would be a really bad result for the sports books," Tony Sinisi, senior odds maker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, told the Associate Press. "Now, we're at the point where there's so much money bet on the Cubs that they have become a huge liability to the sports books."
The prospect of the Cubs being in the World Series could actually generate lots more betting interest and, thus, offset any losses that might be incurred from future bets.
Stanley Racing Abolishes Tax in Irish Betting Shops
Rival bookmakers reacted with surprise Monday following Stanley Racing's unexpected decision to abolish deductions in its 86 Irish betting shops.
Since Saturday, Stanley's shop customers in Ireland have been able to bet tax-free instead of with the usual 3 percent deductions (2 percent for betting duty and 1 percent for data rights payments).
A spokeswoman for Ladbrokes, which has 116 shops in Ireland, said the company would have to fall in line with the decision but wasn't happy about it.
"Purely for commercial reasons, where we are in direct competition with Stanley, which applies to about 45 of our shops, we will follow their lead but we are not endorsing their action," the spokeswoman said. "We will have to absorb the tax and we don't think turnover will rise enough to enable this to be sustained."
Paddy Power, which operates the biggest chain in Ireland with 134 shops, expressed surprise and indicated that the company was still considering its response.
Sam Willock, Stanley Racing's trading controller said the decision was "purely a marketing matter."
UK Racing Officials Want BHB to Look at Betting Exchanges
British Horseracing Board chairman Peter Savill last week made an urgent plea to the government to set up an independent commission of inquiry into betting exchanges.
Savill said issues surrounding exchanges are of "critical importance" to the industry.
In a speech at a London conference on U.K. gambling law, he
said that "nothing less than the future of one of Britain's most prestigious sports and industries and one of the greatest contributors to Government revenues is at stake."
Savill is concerned that punters using betting exchanges can make a profit out of horses losing, rather than just by backing them to win, and he sees this as a major threat to the integrity of the sport.
He pointed out that the Australian government had been prompted to set up a national task force and said Britain should do likewise, proposing that an independent commission should investigate the impact of betting exchanges on the integrity of sport, on British racing's finances and on government revenues.
Sportech Announces Figures for Bet Direct
Sportech, parent company of the phone and Internet betting operator Bet Direct, is looking to the imminent launch of ITV's interactive service to give the business a significant boost, chairman David Mathewson told shareholders.
Bet Direct, one of the interactive betting partners for attheraces, increased turnover by 34 percent, from £39.9 million to £53.3m, for the six months ended June 30, according to figures published this week.
However, the operating loss for the period rose substantially, from £1m to £1.8m, just £200,000 short of the figure registered for the whole of 2002.
Average stakes in Bet Direct's two main sectors, telephone and internet, went up by 12 percent and 70 percent respectively to £36 and £22, but the gross win margin, based on the amount handed back to punters, was down by 3.5 percent to 7.1 percent.