Racing NSW supremo, or should I say, head muppet, Peter V'Landys, has banked his reputation and the future of the NSW racing industry on winning the race fields legislation against Betfair and corporate bookmakers in Australia. The issue - paying for the right to use Racing NSW information to take bets on NSW racing. Nobody is disputing the fact that the body that runs the show deserves to be paid by companies making money from it. The issue is how much and what is fair.
Australia has two main states of racing - Victoria and New South Wales. NSW might have a bigger population but their racing isn't on a par with Victoria. When Takeover Target won last weekend on Doncaster Handicap day, it was a feat worthy of being cheered on by 40,000 people at least. They didn't even get 20 thousand on Sydney's second or third biggest raceday of the year - pathetic.
Racing Victoria sets the standard in Australia - better prizemoney, bigger fields, better crowds, racing not as dominated by two stables, and a greater chunk of the betting (38% v 28%). Racing Victoria consulted a few lawyers who knew their stuff and decided they couldn't charge whatever they wanted for their racing data. They couldn't discriminate in favour of their good friend Tabcorp (now employing an equally incompetent muppet called Robert "I will cancel the spring carnival if it means keeping Betfair out of Australia" Nason, ex-Racing Victoria CEO), they had to set a fee which was equitable to all and not a rate which would automatically send some competitors they weren't in bed with broke.
Racing Vic went for a gross profits fee from betting firms, rather than a turnover tax which not only defies every other business model in the world, but also heavily favours the fat margins, auto profits of Tabcorp. Was this the outcome they wanted? Not a chance, it was what the law demanded. You cannot exclude competition by charging a fee favourable to your mates, and not to the companies you don't like.
This week, the Australian High Court brought down a ruling that copyright over data which isn't particularly valuable is worthless.
Racing Copyright on Thin Ice
The author of this article knows his business law and how it fits with racing. Owners and other stakeholders in NSW racing should be screaming at this idiot V'Landys to stop pissing money up the wall and get on with it. The betting firms are willing to pay a fair fee, but he's more interested in going to court in the vain hope that he and his band of cronies will be proved correct against anyone who has bothered to read the relevant legislation. Racing NSW has already applied to have the case thrown out, which was laughed off by the court and costs were imposed on Racing NSW. You'd think that might ring some alarm bells, but no. The NSW court has also criticised them heavily for not meeting deadlines in responding to the court action.
The chances of Racing NSW winning this case?
Racing NSW win - 10.00
Racing NSW lose - 1.05
Betfair have run rings around every crusty old body in Australia who have tried to force them out by favouring the monopoly. Don't these idiots understand the importance of recent form??
Australia has two main states of racing - Victoria and New South Wales. NSW might have a bigger population but their racing isn't on a par with Victoria. When Takeover Target won last weekend on Doncaster Handicap day, it was a feat worthy of being cheered on by 40,000 people at least. They didn't even get 20 thousand on Sydney's second or third biggest raceday of the year - pathetic.
Racing Victoria sets the standard in Australia - better prizemoney, bigger fields, better crowds, racing not as dominated by two stables, and a greater chunk of the betting (38% v 28%). Racing Victoria consulted a few lawyers who knew their stuff and decided they couldn't charge whatever they wanted for their racing data. They couldn't discriminate in favour of their good friend Tabcorp (now employing an equally incompetent muppet called Robert "I will cancel the spring carnival if it means keeping Betfair out of Australia" Nason, ex-Racing Victoria CEO), they had to set a fee which was equitable to all and not a rate which would automatically send some competitors they weren't in bed with broke.
Racing Vic went for a gross profits fee from betting firms, rather than a turnover tax which not only defies every other business model in the world, but also heavily favours the fat margins, auto profits of Tabcorp. Was this the outcome they wanted? Not a chance, it was what the law demanded. You cannot exclude competition by charging a fee favourable to your mates, and not to the companies you don't like.
This week, the Australian High Court brought down a ruling that copyright over data which isn't particularly valuable is worthless.
Racing Copyright on Thin Ice
The author of this article knows his business law and how it fits with racing. Owners and other stakeholders in NSW racing should be screaming at this idiot V'Landys to stop pissing money up the wall and get on with it. The betting firms are willing to pay a fair fee, but he's more interested in going to court in the vain hope that he and his band of cronies will be proved correct against anyone who has bothered to read the relevant legislation. Racing NSW has already applied to have the case thrown out, which was laughed off by the court and costs were imposed on Racing NSW. You'd think that might ring some alarm bells, but no. The NSW court has also criticised them heavily for not meeting deadlines in responding to the court action.
The chances of Racing NSW winning this case?
Racing NSW win - 10.00
Racing NSW lose - 1.05
Betfair have run rings around every crusty old body in Australia who have tried to force them out by favouring the monopoly. Don't these idiots understand the importance of recent form??
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for your comments, but if you're a spammer, you've just wasted your time - it won't get posted.