PLENTY OF ACTIVITY AT YOUBET.COM

7 December 2007

Internet horse racing provider sees changes at the top and a move into mobile


Charles Champion, the CEO and chairman who turned specialised horserace betting technology company Youbet.com around, will be leaving for pastures greener on December 11 after resigning this week. He will be temporarily replaced by Gary Sproule who is the COO of the company, having joined it in 2002 as financial chief.

Youbet.com is a specialised technology provider of pari-mutuel horse racing content through Internet and telephone platforms, and has recently signed up with mobile gambling solutions provider Phantom Fiber to provide its customers with a mobile betting service.

Champion took office in May 2002 when the company was in poor shape, and is widely credited with improving its operations and fortunes with the assistance of a new management team. The combination brought the company back from the brink of collapse by engineering a remarkable turnaround in the company's core ADW business.

During his tenure, the company's wager processing through organic growth and acquisition progressed more than seven-fold, to $750 million from $110 million between 2002-06, which resulted in a 45 percent share of the US ADW market.

Youbet's latest venture is into the burgeoning field of mobile gambling, where the company has signed a multi-year agreement through its subsidiary United Tote with Phantom Fiber, which will deliver a fully integrated mobile service that will empower players to view race programs, place bets and manage their accounts.

The product is expected to launch at the end of Q1 2008 and will be available to punters alongside United Tote’s other betting products. Mobile bets will be merged with United’s host tote systems and subject to jurisdictional oversight.

Jeff True, president of United Tote, said: “The alliance with Phantom Fiber furthers Youbet’s strategic effort to deliver on-demand pari-mutuel wagering services that rely on modern technology to connect with a whole new generation of customers, This step makes the wagering interface completely portable. So, it’s a logical extension given the evolution and growing popularity of mobile applications.”

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