Sport is made for betting

The panic and hyperbole after the Federal Court overturned the NSW racefields legislation case in favour of Racing NSW has been ridiculous. Trainers threatening to move states (from the richest state of racing in Australia to one which has been a basket case for many years, but might just get its hands on a huge wad of cash to piss up against a wall), owners' associations calling for the heads of Racing Victoria for carrying out sound business practice called negotiation rather than wasting years and millions of dollars in court and various Tabcorp press releases handed to their mouthpiece newspapers, particularly the Daily Telegraph, spouting all sorts of crap regarding product fees applying to other sports . Tabcorp, the bed partner of Racing NSW, which somehow manages to cop an exemption from paying the local racefields fees (due to the fees it pays to the government and racing industry under the terms of the privatisation), outrageously also gets exemptions from paying a produc...

Australia's biggest betting company, the once government-owned and still heavily protected by said powers, Tabcorp, are pushing out the tripe to rub Betfair and corporate bookmaker's noses in it after the Racing NSW v Betfair court ruling yesterday. How about this piece of tripe from Sydney's biggest daily paper, masquerading as Tabcorp's weekly newsletter, the Daily Telegraph. Racing bet case bonanza for NRL The NRL could receive a $17 million a year windfall - or $1 million-plus per club -following a landmark court ruling on Wednesday in favour of Racing NSW. Racing NSW had their right upheld in the Federal Court to charge all betting agencies and corporate bookmakers 1.5 per cent of their turnover as the price for allowing them to bet on their product. The decision has given the NSW racing industry an instant $120 million payday from money already collected but so far held in a trust account. It will also earn the body $50 million a year in future revenues. ...

Must admit this one caught me by surprise. Initially Betfair had won the case alleging Racing NSW had discriminated against them and in favour of their bed partners Tabcorp in charging a 1.5% turnover fee for the use and publication of NSW race fields. Racing NSW appealed the verdict and were today awarded an unanimous verdict in their favour, despite clear evidence that Racing NSW do everything possible in their power to support Tabcorp. Racing NSW wins Federal Court decision The financial future of racing in NSW is secure following a decisive legal victory for Racing NSW over corporate betting agencies in the Federal Court today. Racing NSW executives were elated when three Federal Court handed down a unanimous ruling upholding the right of the NSW racing authority to impose a 1.5 per cent tax on turnover from all wagering operators covering NSW racing. Naturally Peter V'Landys is claiming victory and that his judgment as supreme ruler of NSW racing should never...

Racing NSW, the administrators of what should be the strongest racing in Australia, have shot themselves in the foot yet again as they desperately try to patch up the damage they have caused through pigheadedness and sheer incompetence over the past couple of decades. Merging racing clubs is the latest buzz strategy in Australian racing - the two metropolitan race clubs in Brisbane were able to do it (purely logical considering the two racecourses were literally across the road from each other), so NSW thought they should follow suit. It gets complicated though because the AJC (Australian Jockey Club) think their shit doesn't stink and any form of 'merger' with the STC (Sydney Turf Club) would reek of a takeover. Amazingly, the AJC members all voted for the merger, as all the benefits would go to them, a $150m grandstand at Randwick. No surprise when the STC voted against the move because of concerns about one of their tracks, Canterbury, being sold off, and worries about...

As Racing NSW fights desperately to hang onto its ridiculous racefields legislation based on turnover tax and discriminating against competitive operators, Racing Queensland have seen common sense and elected to follow the Victorian model. One-horse maiden against corporate bookies RACING NSW, the men and women who would run racing in Australia (and thank God they don't), has been further marginalised in the battle of philosophies on how best to make all the sport's stakeholders pay their way. The new ruling body of greyhounds, trots and thoroughbred racing in Queensland has struck an important agreement with corporate bookmakers on how to collect fees for using the state's race fields. And it is not the one that Racing NSW has spent a fortune in court fees to establish and defend. Racing Queensland has fallen into line with Victoria and other racing jurisdictions which use a gross revenue formula to collect product fees. The Racing NSW v Betfair and Sportsbet app...

The various appeals over the initial verdicts between Betfair and Racing NSW, and then Sportsbet and Racing NSW, over the racefields legislation fees will be heard this week. How long it will all take I'm not sure, but a piece of free advice for Peter V'Landys... start clearing out your desk!

The most arrogant state in Australia, New South Wales and in particular its Department of Racing and Gaming, has long had a policy of screw the rest, we will do whatever we like. Protectionist legislation in breach of the Federal Constitution, banning competition or technology from racecourses etc... Back in the 70s and 80s, these policies might have worked, but in the technological age, they are being shown up as using a Commodore 64 when everyone else is using iPhones and iPads. NSW players under the whip and still looking for clear running There it was, in the last paragraph of Tabcorp's full-year results flyer sent out on Thursday. Overall, the figures don't look good for the NSW racing industry. The push for a deregulated betting market must surely be stepped up. The paragraph in the Tabcorp release mentions the impending arrival of ''cartoon racing'', which is about to hit NSW TAB outlets, but that wasn't the eye-catching remark. No, this one i...

Veteran of the sportsbetting industry, WSEX, is allegedly going down according to Gambling911 . Reports of their slow demise have been emerging for a while now , surely there comes a time when you just have to just pay up, and close down? Australian telco Telstra is said to be discussing acquiring a 25% stake in racing TV network TVN according to sources . If so, that would certainly give them some teeth in resisting the anti-competitive we-wish-we-were-a-monopoly TABCorp-owned SkyChannel. And if the Anti-Competition Council get involved there, the Aus racing & broadcasting sector could be in for a major shake up. The chances of TVN's website getting a decent upgrade from the same replay technology they began with in about 2002? Crappy old Windows Media Player format that continually runs stop-start. Very slim... Racing NSW still in the dark about technology , but it turns out the Japan Racing Association, supposedly the benchmark of integrity, isn't much further ahead. And...

The time of the most stubborn and incompetent racing administrator in the world is coming to an end. Defiantly, he still refuses to believe that a court could possibly rule against him and his policies which were proven in court to be discriminatory, and thus illegal. NSW Racing is being crippled by the amount of ridiculous legal fees this bozo and his board are wasting on cases they simply cannot win. Contrast this rhetoric as dictated to TABCorp and Racing NSW's mouthpiece, the Daily Telegraph, with this analysis from Bill Saunders , an industry analyst who actually understands the principles of law and negotiation. The Punters' Show on Racenet had an excellent interview with Andrew Twaits on the subject. Finally the industry that V'Landys supposedly lives and breathes for has had enough, a vote of 'no confidence' in V'Landys and the Racing NSW board is set to be put forward at next week's board meeting . Leading NSW trainer Gai Waterhouse said "It ...

Yesterday's decision doesn't seem to have decided much - Betfair will certainly appeal the verdict against them.Bill Saunders argues that their case was hampered by Racing NSW not releasing relevant information until too late. Betfair was in fact disadvantaged by its lack of knowledge of the rebate arrangement when preparing its statement of claim. Sportsbet, with its case being heard after Betfair, was able to amend its statement of claim accordingly. Racing NSW will almost certainly piss more money up the wall appealing against the Sportsbet verdict as well. One thing that will happen is that all NSW operators, including Tabcorp, will now be forced to pay the fees, which they conveniently didn't have to pay under the flawed V'Landys policy. There is no longer a threshold for payment and no mates' deals for the TABs - one policy for everyone, not just a tax on those evil interstate companies. The last point, re interstate companies, may therefore infringe the cons...

The rulings have been made in the Federal Court today and it ended up as a split decision: Sportsbet won the case against Racing NSW over race fields legislation, and specifically against a threshold which favours NSW betting operators. Racing NSW defeated Betfair on the right to charge a turnover fee which, in Betfair's view, discriminates against low-margin operators such as betting exchanges. The only statements in the press so far are the usual chest-beating 'this is obviously a decision in our favour' whether they won or not, so I'll wait until the smoke clears before writing an elongated rant about it.

First it was April, then May, now it's officially June. Race Fields court decision next month The protracted court action by two wagering operators against Racing NSW over rights fees is set to have its resolution next month. Racing NSW has been notified this week that Justice Perrem intends to deliver his judgment on the cases on June 16. Betting exchange Betfair undertook legal proceedings to challenge the NSW Race Field legislation, which came into effect last year and requires all wagering operators to pay a 1.5 per cent fee on turnover for the use of race fields. Rather naively I thought, Racing NSW last week released a strategic plan for the future dependent on them winning this court case. Surely that's prejudicial to the outcome, or it just makes Peter V'Landys a bigger target for ridicule if they lose the case? If V'Landys can hold his position if Betfair & Sportsbet win this case, then he should run for PM - completely unaccountable, can make ridiculous s...

Yesterday it was Racing NSW expecting punters to allow them to install monitoring software on their laptops if they take them on-course to trade. Today it's British racing's representatives on the Levy Board asking bookmakers to pay up to 76% more to cover racing. Betting companies should be paying for the right to field on British racing, I do not dispute that, but let's be practical about it. The biggest names in the industry are doing all they can to avoid tax and levy, so the industry decides to ask for nearly double the current amount? They have rocks in their heads. Sure you need to start with a big 'offer' as a starting point for negotiation, but it's rather obvious there is no wish for negotiation here, just a demand. Racing betting turnover, as a percentage of business for bookmakers is going one way - DOWN. Betting companies (if I say bookmakers out of habit, I do mean for the term to cover exchanges, totes and bookies) are making bigger profits, but o...

Here's a heart-warming story from Australian racing - a bunch of pompous prats who want to see the continual decline of racing into a sport of a bygone era have formed an 'alliance' to keep racing in an era where punters wore flares and wide-collared shirts, or worse, safari suits (which until recently, was a requirement during summer at some metropolitan racing clubs). Alliance Lobbies Commission for a Better Deal Wednesday, 23 December 2009: A newly formed body of prominent racing industry participants is calling on the Federal Productivity Commission to support the campaign for racing to receive a better deal from wagering operators. The newly formed National Horse Racing Alliance, representing a large number of owners, trainers, breeders, agents and organisations, has made detailed submissions to the Productivity Commission inquiry into gambling in a bid to secure better returns to the racing industry from corporate bookmakers, parimutual operators and betting exchanges...

Western Australia, after copping a caning from the courts over trying to ban Betfair, has now reluctantly agreed to include a gross revenue deal in their racefield fees legislation. Every state now has to introduce some form of fee legislation, as they get charged by every other state for it, with the breakdown of the old gentleman's agreement which let the TABs bet on each other's product in a free contra deal. WA are in the position if being a net importer of racing product, so they are going to have to cover the shortfall somehow. Racing NSW are currently in court doing battle with Betfair and Sportsbet over their attempts at imposing a turnover-based fee, while Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania all went with fees on gross revenue. Victoria, the premier racing state in Australia, set their fee at 10% for the year rising to 15% during the prestige spring carnival. Sounds justified to me. South Aus went with 10% as well. Western Australia to apply retrospective race field...

This case has been running all week and will continue for a few days yet. Numerous articles about it in the Aus press with Racing NSW gaining some ground (they couldn't really lose much more) and legalese choking proceedings to a very slow grind. One quote from tomorrow's article in the Sydney Morning Herald I wanted to highlight though: Racing NSW argues that the fee should be calculated by turnover because turnover is easier to assess and ''less susceptible to avoidance or manipulation'' than gross revenue. It also argues that turnover is not influenced by the particular business model or business decisions made by the company. Turnover is also preferable to gross revenue because it cannot be manipulated by inducements, rebates or benefits given to valuable customers, Racing NSW argues. Rubbish, there is not one system in the world which is manipulation-proof. On-course bookmakers in Aus have been caught over the years taking bets on a second set of books - s...

Good article here from Bill Saunders, describing how South Australian racing is moving forward (granted, it was in rather poor shape) by rolling the sleeves up and dealing with the modern age, rather than trying to stick to believing in a Flat Earth like their counterparts in New South Wales. South Australia Shows How It's Done Long considered a basket case by the rest of Australian racing, South Australia is suddenly showing strong growth from a combination of embracing non-TAB wagering operators, government taxation reform and self help from rationalisation of resources and cost cutting. The net result is a stunning year to year turnaround in performance by TRSA, from a loss of $2.1 million in 2007-08 to a profit of nearly $6.8 million in 2008-09. By far the biggest factor in the improved performance was race field contributions from the bookmaking sector, which boosted gross revenue for TRSA by $9.2 million for the 9 months of the year that the contribution was paid. After payin...

Hyprocritical muppet. I'll leave it at that. Productivity Commission Gambling Report Represents Community View from Racing NSW CEO Peter V'Landys: "The Productivity Commission allowed presentations from a myriad of wagering operators but at no time sought to provide Racing NSW with the opportunity to make a presentation on behalf of its 50,000 participants." V'Landys fails to point out that Racing NSW did in fact make a submission, which was mostly ignored, much to his chagrin. In terms of poetic justice he might like to reflect on the very limited consultation process that Racing NSW engaged in when formulating its race fields strategy. Submissions were not considered from any wagering operator other than TabCorp and the one provided by Betfair was ignored. ... Racing NSW is furious that any party would want to dictate what it should charge for its racing, saying: "The two most ridiculous recommendations are that an independent organisation set the price of ...

Is it really 1973 in Sydney, or just in the ivory towers that Peter V'Landys lives in? The guy is that out-of-touch with his thinking that he surely still believes the world is flat. Yesterday the Australian Federal Government Productivity Commission released a report into the gambling industry in Australia. It delved deeply into problem gambling, advertising laws, online operations at home and abroad, hypocrisy of racing authorities and TABs, and all the other related issues. From what I've read, and there are 630 pages of it, it appears to be quite a balanced report. It outlines how the world has changed, how competition improves businesses and for the end consumer. It outlines how the ban on online casinos for Australians was a waste of time. And many other stories. If you fancy a few days of bedtime reading, you can download it here . Naturally, the muppet in charge at Racing NSW has come out and slaughtered it because the researchers actually believe in life after black an...

The 'independent review of wagering policy and regulation' (are these things ever genuinely independent anymore?), the Cameron Report, made many recommendations for changes to the NSW wagering industry and policy. The NSW govt has taken its time, but has finally come back with some changes which might actually be a positive move for the punting public. Cameron Report - Fixed-odds breakthrough for NSW Recommendations adopted include: • pursuing a national co-ordinated approach to the regulation and taxation of wagering; • allowing the NSW TAB to offer fixed odds betting on all races through its account betting network on the phone and internet; • after further consultation and support of the industry, NSW bookmakers will be permitted to accept bets at racecourses using the internet or telephone on a 24/7 basis, as in Victoria; • not permitting betting on reality TV shows, economic events and the like; • prohibiting off-course retail bookmaking kiosks; and • givin...