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Racetracks Look to Internet for Boost28 August 2001UNITED STATES—August 28, 2001 –As reported by the Associated Press: "…The sport's total `handle' -- the amount bettors wagered -- was about $14.2 billion last year, up from $8.3 billion a decade earlier. But competition from casinos and an aging fan base have slowed horse racing's growth in the past two years, and the industry is scrambling to put the sport online in hopes of attracting a young and growing Web-savvy market. "In the past few years, track owners, gambling companies and entrepreneurs have launched a half-dozen major horse-racing Web sites. With names like YouBet.com, eBetUSA.com and WinTicket.com, the sites offer the chance to wager on races at dozens of tracks around the country and watch the races via live video feeds. Some feature prerace commentary from professional handicappers and, for an extra fee, more sophisticated betting advice. "…A federal law bans interstate gambling over phone lines but exempts betting on the ponies. Currently, 41 states allow betting on horse races over the Web. That's not true of casino gaming or sports betting, where the only way to play online is through shadowy offshore casino sites that have sometimes failed to pay winnings. "…About $200 million was wagered on the ponies via the Internet last year, up from $65 million the year before, estimates Bear Stearns analyst Marc Falcone; he projects that total online handle could grow to as much as $5 billion by 2005. "…But before online betting can really take off, horse racing may have to allay bettors' fears that computer whizzes are beating the system. In the past year or so, avid bettors have complained that odds have been dropping sharply on front-runners in the seconds after a race starts. "…Financial performance of the online outfits, which make most of their money by levying a small commission on each bet, so far has been mixed. YouBet.com, which is publicly traded, has lost money every year since its inception in 1996, and currently has about 15,000 paying subscribers, shy of its breakeven goal of 25,000. "…But WinTicket.com has helped turn around years of losses for its parent company, America Tab Ltd., a betting company based Grove City, Ohio, co-owned by two Ohio racetracks that had previously relied only on telephone wagering…" |