![]() Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter! |
Gaming News
Arena Leisure Confirms Acquisition of British Horseracing Media Rights9 May 2001NEW YORK – (Press Release) -- May 9, 2001 -- Scientific Games Corporation (Amex: SGM), formerly Autotote Corporation (Amex: TTE), today announced that Arena Leisure Plc, its UK partner in the Trackplay Internet wagering joint venture, has finalized the acquisition of the media rights to British horseracing. Arena also became a 33.3% shareholder in Go Racing as a result of the completion of an agreement with BSkyB and Channel Four. As a joint venture partner with Arena Leisure, Scientific Games will receive a portion of all pari-mutuel wagers handled through the Trackplay system that Go Racing will use. Lorne Weil, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Games Corporation, said, ``Our subsidiary, Autotote Systems has been working very closely with Arena to develop Trackplay(TM) and we are very pleased at this turn of events. With the achievement of these milestones, the deployment of Trackplay can move forward in Great Britain -- hopefully before the end of the year. In the meantime, we have introduced Trackplay at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans and continue to make enhancements to the system. The potential for a product that makes access to horseracing as easy as sitting down at your personal computer is substantial and we intend to be at the forefront of that market.'' Ian Penrose, Group Managing Director of Arena Leisure Plc, said, ``Go Racing brings us together with an excellent team to best serve the horseracing public. Media expertise from Channel Four and digital distribution capability from BSkyB together with the on-line capabilities of Autotote Systems and Arena Leisure make a very effective combination. The British horseracing market is estimated to be $9 billion and Go Racing has agreements with racetracks that represent over 70% of that. In our opinion, the future looks very exciting and we see this as the start of a new era for racing.'' About Scientific Games Scientific Games Corporation, formerly Autotote Corporation, is the leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to lotteries, and the leading supplier of wagering systems and services to pari-mutuel operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in Connecticut, Holland and Germany. Scientific Games is also a major supplier of prepaid phone cards to telephone companies. Scientific Games customers' are in the United States and more than 60 other countries. For more information about Scientific Games, please visit our web site at About Arena Leisure Plc
Arena Leisure is headquartered in London, England. It principally operates 6 of the 59 racecourses in Britain, running 19% of all UK horseracing fixtures which account for 16% of all off-course horseracing betting revenues. As a racecourse owner, Arena will also be entitled to receive a share of the payments which Go Racing will make to the Courses.
|