PointsBet, 1/ST Technology Announce Partnership

Edited Press Release

Premier Turf Club, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of PointsBet USA Inc., today announced a partnership agreement with 1/ST TECHNOLOGY, a business division of The Stronach Group (“TSG”). The agreement encompasses 1/ST's broad portfolio of products and services including 1/ST BET, Xpressbet, Monarch Content Management and AmTote International.

Key features of the deal include:

  • PointsBet and 1/ST Technology will collaborate on integration and launch of the one-of-a-kind 1/ST BET online horse wagering product in US jurisdictions where Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) is permitted.
  • Deeply aligns the companies and drives vertical integration across key components of ADW–product, tote, and content management–serving to enrich the PointsBet offering and introduce new bettors to American horseracing.
  • Racing customers of 1/ST TECHNOLOGY's currently operated brands, Xpressbet and 1/ST BET, will be introduced to the world of Sports Betting and iCasino via PointsBet products through this unique marketing partnership.

The agreement encompasses a wide range of services and synergies across the companies which is set to deliver a fully integrated, white-label horse betting experience to PointsBet customers. The partnership marks the first time in the United States that a tier-one sports betting company and horse racing company have aligned to power an independently owned and licensed ADW operator.

1/ST BET is a revolutionary multi-featured app with an algorithm based handicapping tool and a fully configurable UI/UX created to introduce new customers to horse racing and betting, as well as support for the most advanced horse racing bettors. The 1/ST BET app was developed to make handicapping and betting fun and intuitive. Its goal is to educate customers to make smarter bets, engage with the sport of horse racing, and complement the on-track visuals and wagering experience. 1/ST BET was successfully launched nationally in May 2019.

Regarding the strategic partnership announcement, PointsBet Group CEO Sam Swanell commented: “Horse racing has a unique role to play alongside sports betting in the United States, and despite already generating over $6.5 billion per annum in industry online handle, we consider it an attractive category on the cusp of further expansion on the back of the ongoing shift from brick and mortar to digital. With PointsBet's mature market Australian racing expertise, and now a strategic partner in 1/ST TECHNOLOGY, we can introduce new and existing customers to a dynamic and interactive PointsBet branded horse betting experience.”

Paul Williams, Chief Executive Officer, 1/ST TECHNOLOGY, added: “1/ST TECHNOLOGY is excited to be partnering with the truly innovative team at PointsBet to bring the great sport of horse racing to a growing customer base across US markets. We are uniquely aligned on a superior product vision as well as the value that this relationship brings to our collective organizations and horse racing industry stakeholders at large.”

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Caesars Launching Racebook App in Partnership With NYRA

Caesars Sportsbook, in partnership with NYRA Bets, is launching a new horse racing account wagering app, Caesars Racebook, Caesars and the New York Racing Association announced Thursday. Available for download this spring, Caesars Racebook will utilize the NYRA Bets platform to provide bettors with pari-mutuel wagering services on premier horse racing content from more than 250 tracks around the world.

Caesars Racebook will offer wagering on marquee horse racing events in the United States, as well as on international tracks. The new app will also offer players all the additional benefits of NYRA Bets, including race replays, handicapping insights and more.

“Following our successful rollout of Caesars Sportsbook, we're delighted to launch Caesars Racebook in partnership with NYRA Bets,” said Dan Shapiro, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer of Caesars Digital. “NYRA conducts world-class horse racing and NYRA Bets has access to the best horse racing content from around the world, including from Caesars-operated racetracks. We're proud to support the horse racing industry while introducing the new Caesars Racebook app and Caesars Rewards to horse racing bettors.”

NYRA Bets, the fastest-growing national advance deposit wagering platform, is available in 30 states and continues to expand its reach and customer base throughout the country. “NYRA considers it a core responsibility to grow the sport by increasing consumer access to world-class horse racing both in New York and around the country,” said Dave O'Rourke, NYRA President & CEO. “Pairing the world-renowned Caesars brand with the rapidly growing NYRA Bets wagering platform is an ideal way to launch Caesars Racebook, which will soon deliver all the NYRA Bets tools and advantages to the Caesars customer base.”

Horse racing and sports fans across the country will soon be able to download the Caesars Racebook app on iOS or Android. Similar to the Caesars Sportsbook app, every wager placed on Caesars Racebook will earn Caesars Rewards.

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Illinois HBPA Withholds Consent For TwinSpires To Operate In Illinois

The organization representing owners and trainers at FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing (formerly known as Fairmount Park) is withholding consent for the TwinSpires betting platform to accept wagers from Illinois residents.

The board of the Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association, which represents horsemen at the southern Illinois track 15 miles from downtown St. Louis, cites the closure of suburban Chicago's industry icon Arlington Park by Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI), TwinSpires' parent corporation, as a prime motivation for withholding consent. With CDI not owning a functioning racetrack in Illinois in 2022, TwinSpires must under state law have a contract with another duly licensed track to conduct business in the state starting Jan. 1. The only remaining Prairie State horse tracks are FanDuel and Chicagoland's Hawthorne Race Course, with CDI seeking approval through the FanDuel track.

Illinois law also gives horsemen consent rights before an advance-deposit wagering (ADW) platform can enter into a relationship with an Illinois track to conduct business in the state.

Illinois HBPA president Jim Watkins said his organization's board believes the issue is of the magnitude that it should go before the Illinois Racing Board. The IRB has scheduled a hearing on Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. Central via WebEx. The racing regulators have the power to overrule the horsemen's veto if they believe the horsemen's action was unreasonable, he said.

“That's where we're at now,” Watkins said. “We just felt this was an issue the racing board should be able to weigh in on, whether TwinSpires continues to be allowed to operate in Illinois. That's a big reason we withheld our consent.”

Watkins said the horsemen are upset not just that CDI shut down Arlington Park but then would not sell to ownership wishing to maintain racing at the 94-year-old track. CDI is the majority owner of Rivers Casino Des Plaines, located 10 miles from Arlington Park. The company has an agreement to sell the Arlington Park property to pro football's Chicago Bears for a reported $197 million.

“CDI wants their cake and to eat it, too: 'We're not willing to be involved in the racing, but we want to still utilize our ADW powers in Illinois,'” Watkins said.

Beyond the situation with TwinSpires in Illinois, Watkins believes there are fundamental issues with the entire ADW model that the industry must address to maintain horse racing's viability.

“This is where the system is really flawed,” he said. “It's an agreement between three parties. In Illinois, the track and the ADW provider negotiate the contract, and the third — the horsemen — is just the consenter. There are so many questions left unanswered. Obviously with the increased numbers of people using ADWs, the horsemen and the tracks get so much less of that it could spell doom for us.

“The framers of these ADWs intended for it to basically be a third to the provider, a third to the track and a third to the horsemen. But they take out fees up front, and those fees are unspecified in purpose and amount. What is an ADW fee? What does that mean? The racetracks don't ask the ADW to pay their security payroll and the electric bill. And the horsemen don't ask the ADW company to pay the feed bill and hay bill and straw bill.”

Watkins said the Illinois HBPA also “wants to bring light to a flawed system” under which online betting platforms operate. Watkins said that the ADWs make the lion's share of the net proceeds at the expense of horsemen's purse accounts and brick-and-mortar tracks and simulcasting facilities, even as the online technology siphons off the majority of bettors.

“It's inherently flawed, just the way it is set up,” Watkins said. “I think it's going to be the death of horse racing if we continue to go at the rate we're going. This was so well-said by a Chicago horseman: 'We traded dollars for quarters when we went to simulcast wagering. Now, with the ADW wagering, we're trading dollars and quarters for nickels.' The recipe has to be changed if horse racing — at least for the mid-level and smaller tracks — is going to exist.”

Watkins points to a July 14 article by former New York Racing Association head Charles Hayward, now publisher of Thoroughbred Racing Commentary, that illustrates the inequities of the ADW splits.

“Because of the pandemic of early 2020, Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW), Computer Robotic Wagering (CRW) and other off-track outlets handled 97 percent of the total U.S. racing handle last year,” Hayward wrote. “The on-track handle was the remaining 3 percent, or $333 million.

“… Here is a model of how the racetrack and the purse account would split a million dollars bet through an ADW: The ADW operator receipts would be $70,000, or 40 percent greater than the $50,000 total proceeds to the racetrack and the purse account.”

The Illinois HBPA signed a one-year contract with TVG to operate in Illinois, Watkins said. FanDuel, part of the corporate enterprise that operates the TVG racing channel and betting platform, is the southern Illinois track's equity partner to operate the sports book. While the company is not a partner in the racetrack, it received branding and naming rights as part of a contract that includes the long-term sponsorship of the St. Louis Derby, worth $250,000 in 2021.

The post Illinois HBPA Withholds Consent For TwinSpires To Operate In Illinois appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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NYRA Bets Partners with BetMGM

NYRA Bets, the advance deposit wagering (ADW) platform of the New York Racing Association (NYRA), has partnered with BetMGM, a sports betting and digital gaming entertainment company. NYRA Bets is the first horse racing partner of BetMGM, which is affiliated with MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) and has exclusive access to all of MGM's U.S. land-based and online sports betting, major tournament poker, and online gaming businesses. With the partnership, BetMGM customers will be able to watch and wager on Thoroughbred, harness, and Quarter Horse races at over 200 tracks globally.

“This is the type of partnership that reflects the importance of horse racing within the rapidly evolving sports betting marketplace,” said Tony Allevato, president of NYRA Bets. “BetMGM has consistently led the charge to expand wagering opportunities for their customers, and we are thrilled that NYRA Bets horse racing content will soon be available on BetMGM.”

BetMGM will utilize the NYRA Bets wagering platform in the BetMGM Horse Racing app. Users will have access to live streaming video and race replays. They will be able to wager on events like the Kentucky Derby and other Triple Crown races, as well as the Breeders' Cup and international events like Royal Ascot, the Melbourne Cup, and the Dubai World Cup.

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