U.S. ONLINE HORSE RACING COULD HAVE WIDER AMBITIONS

25 May 2007

Racetrack executive hints at other Internet possibilities

The President and CEO of Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky has hinted at wider ambitions for online betting activities through the company's Internet betting network.

Speaking to the Greater Louisville annual small business lunch gathering this week, Churchill Downs CEO Bob Evans hinted that his company's first venture into online account wagering, permitted due to carve-outs in US anti-online gambling legislation, may not be its last.

The Courier-Journal newspaper in Kentucky covered the luncheon and reported that Evans suggested to entrepreneurs that they try to offer more products through their existing channels, using his firm's TwinSpires site as an example.

Evans revealed that Churchill's future plans could include extending its brands “to play other games” in countries where online gambling is legal.

“Given the fact that the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs [and] Twin Spires are world renowned brands, why wouldn’t we use those brands to enter into businesses that are outside our traditional core of thoroughbred racing,” he said.

In the same week, Thoroughbred Times reported that National Thoroughbred Racing Association President Alex Waldrop thinks the WTO decisions against the United States all bode well for American horse racing and the provision that allows for advanced deposit account wagering on races on the Internet.

“This is a great day for the pari-mutuel industry,” Waldrop said. “As a result of the withdrawal by the United States of its GATS commitment, the WTO will no longer play a role in the global debate on U.S. regulation of gambling services over the Internet. The NTRA has monitored this case for over two years, and we have argued from the outset that the GATS commitment should be withdrawn. Today’s decision validates our long-held position.”

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