SEARCH NEWS:

 

Youbet, Sportsballot sign deal

WOODLAND HILLS, California -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Youbet, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBET ) announced today that it has become the horse racing content source for Live Racing Network (LRN), an application managed by SportsBallot, Inc. which supplies horse racing programs to the websites of US daily newspapers that combined have more than 20 million unique visitors each month. The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, and Los Angeles Daily News headline a group of more than 30 top daily newspapers that will feature Youbet-branded content on their sports and horse racing pages each day.

"Horse racing needs broad exposure as a prerequisite for growing its customer base," said Youbet CEO Charles F. Champion. "Our experience proves the point. More than 40% of our customers reach us by traveling through national sports web portals like CBS SportsLine and ESPN. LRN expands on that concept and puts us in a position to touch prospective fans through their 'local' online news sources.

"Now, when sports fans are looking for coverage of their local teams at an LRN affiliated paper, they'll find the Youbet label on horse racing content. We think this has the potential to be among our most powerful brand-building programs."

The branding will begin with exposure to Youbet.net (www.youbet.net), the company's play-for-fun, win-for-real website that offers virtually the same racing experience as Youbet Express except that players use points to play instead of dollars. As part of the Youbet.net interaction, visitors can choose tracks, review and handicap race entries, check track odds, and watch live video of races.

"Youbet.net's risk-free, learn-to-play orientation is the perfect fit for the newspaper websites," Champion said, "and it's the perfect platform for introducing people to the excitement of the sport and online advanced deposit wagering."

SportsBallot, Inc. is an interactive web services company focused on providing online media properties and advertisers with customized sports and entertainment programs. CEO Ari Perlin said that the addition of Youbet's content to its Live Racing Network gives his company a compelling new ad sales vehicle.

"Youbet does more than just expose the sport," Perlin said. "It modernizes it and inspires it with digital speed, incredible visual quality and one of the most comprehensive databases in the business. Our current Network partners have been eager to add the content."

< Gaming News