Betfred’s The Tote in the News — Weekly Round-up for March 2, 2018

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Mar 2, 2018

Betfred Set To Sell Off A Quarter Of Its Stake In The Tote?

Reports that a racing consortium may be prepared to pay GBP 30 million for twenty-five percent of The Tote

Betfred founder Fred Don’s rocky relationship with British racing, which has prompted plans by interested parties to form their own betting pool when Betfred’s seven-year agreement on The Tote expires, is probably one of the reasons behind weekend reports that Betfred is seriously considering a GBP 30 million offer to buy a 25 percent stake in The Tote.

Betfred has held the exclusive rights to offer Tote wagers on UK races since 2011, but the success of the project has been hampered by a reportedly poor relationship between UK racing and Done.

The offer to buy a chunk of The Tote’s action comes from a racing industry consortium led by former Total Performance Data chairman and board member of the British Horse Racing Association, Eamon Wilmott, according to Sky News reports.

The consortium apparently has ambitious multi-million pound marketing plans for The Tote, should it be successful in acquiring a stake in the enterprise…and an improved relationship with racing may be a beneficial side-effect.

New U.K. Pool Betting Project Unveils Corporate Identity Elements

Britbet brand will become synonymise with British horse racing

When Betfred’s exclusive The Tote pool betting licence ends this summer, a powerful new rival will be set to compete in the form of Britbet, which unveiled elements of its corporate identity this weekend.

The new brand belongs to British Racing Bet, a company formed by most of the UK’s racecourses to offer pool betting.

Industry observers have predicted that the new brand will quickly eclipse that of The Tote in July, when Betfred’s exclusive licence ends, and the Britbet brand and its slogan “By racing, For Racing” starts to appear across some 55 UK race courses.

David Williams, communications director for the company, said:

“The Britbet logo will be one of the most widely seen brands on UK racecourses when we launch and we want it to be recognisable as quickly as possible.

“We wanted to show something that welcomes racegoers who may not be familiar with the on-course betting scene but which also appeals to more regular racegoers.”

Williams added that the Britbet logo will also feature extensively across all Britbet’s digital offerings, noting:

“We are looking to build awareness ahead of our mid-summer launch with a range of ideas around the products”.

InfoPowa readers may recall that over the weekend Betfred confirmed that it was considering an offer from a racing-connected consortium to buy a 25 percent stake in the Tote for around GBP 30 million.

Media reports are that at least 49 of Betfred’s 51 on-course betting shops are scheduled to close, and several major race sponsorships inherited with The Tote licence are to be discontinued.

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