Racing Victoria Chief Executive, Rob Hines, has welcomed the Victorian Government’s announcement that invitations to apply for the Victorian wagering licence have been issued to a shortlist of three wagering service providers.
“We are delighted that the Government has attracted such a strong and competitive field to bid for the licence and we look forward to working with the successful applicant,” Hines said.
“The post-2012 wagering joint venture will be vitally important to securing a growing and viable racing industry so we are keen to see the licence awarding process completed as soon as possible and give the industry certainty about its future partner.” The short-listed applicants announced by the Victorian Government today are: · Tabcorp Holdings · Tatts Group · Ladbrokes PLC The 12-year wagering and betting licence will provide: * The right to offer both pari-mutuel and fixed odds betting on racing, sports and other events, including the only authority to conduct wagering and betting via an off-course retail network; * The right to establish and operate the only betting exchange based in Victoria; and * The right to offer approved simulated racing games The Victorian Government also announced its intention to work towards awarding the licence before the end of the year. RACING VICTORIA PRESS RELEASE, 29/07/2010 TRACKDATA ADDS: While the open-mindedness of Racing Victoria to open its own betting exchange should be applauded, the decision is at least five years too late. Liquidity is everything in regard to betting exchanges, and it is difficult to see how a new betting exchange is going to challenge Betfair in the short term, even for Australian racing, unless it is "seeded", which could be very expensive. In addition, unless the new betting exchange matches the current low fees offered by Betfair, no serious exchange backer or layer is going to jump ship. Kevin Skene. 
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NAMING OF WAGERING LICENCE APPLICANTS WELCOMED