|
Post by BVADMIN on Jan 21, 2019 11:08:41 GMT
History made with early morning greyhound meeting in KilkennyHistory was made on the 12th December 2018, when Ireland held its first ever early morning greyhound fixture at Kilkenny greyhound track. The race programme got underway at 9:18 to mark the start of a new partnership between SIS and the Irish Greyhound Board which will provide operators globally with competitive early morning greyhound racing.
In addition to racing from Kilkenny there will also be early morning fixtures from Kilcohen Park which commenced on Thursday 3rd January. All the morning fixtures begin will begin racing at 8:12 and conclude at 10:41 to mirror the schedules at Henlow and Harlow in the UK which have been running since October and November respectively.
Gordon Bissett, Greyhound Operations Manager at SIS, said “We’re thrilled to make history in Ireland with the launch of new early morning fixtures in partnership with the Irish Greyhound Board. These races will provide betting operators globally with competitive greyhound racing at a time when they don’t currently have any. We’ve already seen the early morning fixtures from Henlow and Harlow drive incremental revenues for our operator partners and we are sure the racing from Kilkenny and Kilcohen Park will do so too.”
Joe Lewins, Director of Tote and Wagering at Irish Greyhound Board, said “Irish greyhound racing is a great betting product, and we are pleased to be working with SIS to give it the exposure it deserves around the world. Early morning fixtures are one of the many steps we are making to drive new revenue for the sport in Ireland and we are confident that it will prove successful with betting operators all over the world.”
The SIS Greyhound Service now provides over 33,000 UK and Irish races a year with live racing 14 hours a day providing the most comprehensive greyhound service in the market place. For more information, please call +44 3450 700 700 or email info@sis.tv
|
|
|
Post by BVADMIN on Jan 21, 2019 11:09:37 GMT
SIS shortlisted for prestigious Global Gaming Awards London 2019Following a successful year, driven by several new product launches and commercial partnerships, we are pleased to learn that we have been shortlisted for the Best Retail Supplier award at the prestigious Global Gaming Awards London 2019.
During the judging period we launched our new SIS Greyhound Service which offers operators the most comprehensive service of UK and Irish Greyhound racing in the market place with over 33,500 races a year. We also introduced Early Morning UK & Irish fixtures for the first time, with racing now beginning at 8:12am, to provide retail and online bookmakers worldwide with over 14 hours of live greyhound racing every day.
We have also recently launched our new 24/7 Live Betting Channels, which provide operators across the globe with round-the-clock betting content, featuring live horse and greyhound racing, virtual horse and greyhound racing, and numbers games.
During 2018, we signed a number of new racing rights agreements to further enhance our market-leading portfolio of live pictures and data from the world’s leading racecourses and greyhound tracks.
SIS CEO Richard Ames said: “2018 has been a pivotal year for SIS, in securing significant new profitable racing content, and launching new products, to help drive our growth strategy.
“I’d like to thank the whole team here at SIS for their hard work and contribution in helping us receive this industry recognition.”
The winners will be announced at a prestigious ceremony held at The Hippodrome Casino, London, on the 4th February.
|
|
|
Post by BVADMIN on Mar 6, 2019 15:14:34 GMT
TAKEN FROM THE RACING POST WEDNESDAY 6/3/19:::
|
|
|
Post by BVADMIN on Mar 23, 2019 9:59:41 GMT
TAKEN FROM THE RACING POST SATURDAY 23/3/19...
|
|
|
Post by BVADMIN on Mar 24, 2019 20:50:57 GMT
TAKEN FROM THE RACING POST
|
|
|
Post by BVADMIN on Apr 2, 2019 11:34:21 GMT
TAKEN FROM THE GREYHOUND STAR WEBSITE.. greyhoundstar.co.uk/barry-stanton-let-eat-cake/BARRY STANTON – LET THEM EAT CAKE....... Henlow - with seven meetings per week - is the largest contributing track.....There is a misconception that media rights deals, that have provided non stop greyhound action both online and within the retail market, has brought untold wealth to the promoters who signed long term contracts to provide greyhound racing from their tracks.
On the face of it multi million pound contracts should lead to at least a level of income that would ensure promoters were comfortable and the struggles they endured to get to this point were a distant memory.
Well the real situation is somewhat different and certainly working in the politically charged environment of the greyhound industry has opened my eyes to the trials and tribulations that beset these individuals as they try and balance the needs of their businesses with the demands made upon them from the industry stakeholders.
Trainers have undoubtedly been the greatest beneficiaries of the media rights battle. They are now courted by tracks in the same way footballers are and financially, in terms of retainers and bonus payments, have seen their lot improve dramatically. Not only are they in high demand they can actually make a good living from the sport and long may that continue.
On course bookmakers have also been the recipients of windfall payments from promoters. Tracks that two years ago would not dream of paying a bookmaker to stand have to do so now. The media contract requires the return of an SP and therefore promoters have to ensure it happens even though some meetings are so sparsely attended it is not financially viable for a bookmaker to stand. That comes at a significant cost.
Substantial prize money increases have been made to encourage owners and their dogs to stay at their respective tracks given the unpopular race scheduling that the media contracts require and to attract new dogs to meet the demands of a more challenging race programme.
The cost of all of this runs into millions of pounds and is set against a backdrop of reducing attendance generating reduced turnover, revenue and income but wait there’s more. The industry itself wants to take a share and that share is rapidly increasing putting the promoter in an unenviable position.
It is not commonly known but the GBGB charge all licensed tracks £45 for every race that is broadcast live. This charge is called a special licence fee and it is not capped. Therefore if a track races seven times a week, as some do, the annual figure could be nearly £200,000.
In addition to this every track uses Formnet. This is the industry system that produces race cards and populates the GBGB data base and is charged at £150 per meeting for the privilege. Using the example of a track racing seven times a week this would amount to £55,000 a year. The explanation given is that there is a cost in maintaining and developing the system but the level of income generated by this charge has never been justified by BAGS the owners of the software.
The latest industry generated charge is the capping, by the BGRF, of money allocated to a graded greyhound. Prior to January this year every greyhound received £5 per run and this contribution was made to assist the greyhound owner and trainer through to the greyhounds retirement.
It would appear that because of lack of bookmaker voluntary contributions that mission statement has now become redundant and the £5 payment has been capped at 336 runs per week. Therefore if the payment was maintained by the promoter to every runner, which as I understand it is, the cost of this could be another £40,000 on the bottom line. A policy recommended to the BGRF by the GBGB without consultation and without explanation.
There are a myriad of other charges made by the GBGB such as track licences, staff licences and trainer licences etc and therefore one has to question whether promoters get value for money? I ask this because you don’t need to be an accountant to determine that there is a very fine line between profit and loss in this scenario. The massive investment a promoter has to make needs to be balanced against the income received from the media rights deal and that can be extremely tricky.
It doesn’t help that industry bodies place more and more of a financial burden on the ever decreasing number of licensed tracks without justification or concern for their financial well being. Perhaps they don’t feel it’s necessary or they too are under the misconception that track promoters can afford it. The cake is only so big let’s hope their share will leave more than just crumbs for the promoters.
Anybody wishing to support or challenge Barry’s views is always welcome to do so:
admin@greyhoundstar.co.uk
Ed.....
|
|
|
Post by BVADMIN on May 8, 2019 16:16:20 GMT
ARC and TRP Succeed In Substantial High Court Claim Against SIS.....Industry News | 08 May 2019Arena Racing Company (“ARC”) and The Racing Partnership (“TRP”) have today reacted to the findings of the High Court in the case of TRP, ARC & Arena Leisure v Sports Information Services (‘SIS’).
The High Court has today found in favour of ARC/TRP (the claimants) that SIS acted unlawfully by breaching the confidentiality in ARC’s Raceday Data.
The Findings of Today’s Ruling
Judgment was handed down today, and the Court has found that:
Live Raceday Data relating to TRP races is confidential; TRP has the exclusive right to disseminate it, and SIS and The Tote breached duties of confidence owed to TRP by unlawfully taking, supplying and commercially exploiting that data.
The legal proceedings will now continue to determine the amount of damages payable by SIS to TRP.
Background
TRP was set up to exclusively license media rights from horse race meetings at ARC and other independent racecourses, direct to retail bookmakers and other betting operators. Customers including William Hill, Paddy Power and the majority of independent operators contracted directly with TRP to receive a media rights package comprising live data and audio-visual coverage for fixtures from six racecourses (Doncaster, Lingfield Park, Southwell, Royal Windsor, Wolverhampton and Worcester) from the start of 2017.
The retail estates of Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred did not contract with TRP to secure a lawful supply of live data and TV coverage from these racecourses. They were complicit in a plan to compile enough data from other sources to create an unofficial service from the Tote’s presence on-course and other sources to be supplied by SIS, without any of them paying TRP. TRP took immediate legal action and commenced High Court proceedings against them in January 2017.
The Hon Mr Justice Zacaroli, in a 96 page judgment, in essence, found that SIS knew:
1. that Arena imposed restrictions on the use of Raceday Data upon all attendees;
2. that Arena had granted exclusive rights to exploit Raceday Data for fixed-odds betting purposes to TRP;
3. that there was considerable commercial value in being able to disseminate Raceday Data to off-course bookmakers as soon as possible, and that the exclusivity given to TRP was in order that TRP and Arena could exploit that value;
4. that the Tote had no contractual arrangement with Arena regulating its entitlement to collect, or sub-licence to others, Raceday Data; and
5. while the Tote had the right to be on the Arena Racecourses, that had only ever in fact been exercised for the purposes of pool betting
And
Accordingly, that a reasonable person in the position of SIS would have appreciated that the Tote acquired the information in circumstances imposing obligations of confidence, which would be breached by use of that information otherwise than by the Tote for the limited purpose of pool betting.
While the judge found ARC/TRP had not made good their other claims in conspiracy through unlawful means, he did conclude:
‘As I have already found, SIS is liable to the claimants under a separate direct claim for breach of confidence. In these circumstances, and given that SIS is the only remaining defendant in the action, it is difficult to see what a finding that SIS was also liable in conspiracy would add’.
During the course of the proceedings and the trial, SIS also admitted that:
- SIS was not entitled to take and commercially exploit Raceday Data from third-party websites carrying the official data from TRP’s media rights package, and its practice of doing so infringed TRP’s database rights and was unlawful;
- SIS was not entitled to use data taken from betting exchanges to create and commercially exploit betting prices without express authorisation from the betting exchanges, and its practice of doing so was unlawful; and
- SIS had breached the terms of a data licence with TRP by supplying data to certain bookmakers not licensed by TRP to receive it.
ARC Reaction
Martin Cruddace CEO of Arena Racing commented:
“We would like to thank the Hon. Mr Justice Zacaroli for the diligence and work with which he has clearly approached his judgment in a complex case. We are pleased that the High Court has unequivocally recognised the validity and enforceability of our exclusive rights in the Raceday Data created and collected on racecourses and therefore owned by them.We welcome the fact that the judgment gives a ruling on the rights in and protection of Raceday Data which is important to all of British Horse Racing.
It is clear and, in our view, beyond any reasonable dispute that Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred were only able to not enter into media rights agreements with TRP, on proper commercial terms (between Jan 1st and late July 2017), because of their access to Raceday data unlawfully supplied by SIS, and it follows that SIS is responsible for the very significant damages to which TRP is entitled.
We will now expeditiously commence the proceedings to determine the quantum of damages and will continue to monitor any infringements of our rights and take appropriate action wherever such infringements are found.”Click on the link below... www.arenaracingcompany.co.uk/media-centre/news/industry-news/arc-and-trp-succeed-in-substantial-high-court-claim-against-sis
|
|
|
Post by BVADMIN on May 9, 2019 13:12:01 GMT
TAKEN FROM THE RACING POST THURSDAY 9/5/19...
|
|
|
Post by BVADMIN on May 9, 2019 13:15:35 GMT
TAKEN FROM THE GREYHOUND STAR WEBSITE:: WEDNESDAY MAY 8th 2019: greyhoundstar.co.uk/editors-chair-now/
EDITORS CHAIR: COURT CASE OVER, SO NOW WHAT?
Today’s announcement that Justice Zacaroli had found in favour of ARC/TRP in its claim against SIS may not appear to have a great deal to do with followers of a greyhound racing website. OR it could be massively significant for the whole industry.
The following is a rough sketch, necessarily missing many finer details, of what this complex issue is all about.
It concerns two Goliaths of of the betting/broadcasting industries concluding a three year old legal dispute that, give or take, everyone was pretty much expecting.
Basically, back in 2017 Ladbrokes, Corals and Betfred refused to take TRP’s horse racing coverage into their shops, even though they were betting on them.
ARC/TRP claimed that the data supplied by them in a separate deal to The Tote, for pool betting, was being unlawfully hijacked and used by the three betting companies . They issued proceedings against the trio, plus the company actually delivering the information via its betting shop service, SIS.
Within six months the three betting firms had relented and agreed to pay for TRP horse racing. Since then, Corals and Ladbrokes have merged, and the case against them and Betfred has been settled, but the High Court Action against SIS continued – until today.
Those familiar with the story can skip the next bit of background . . .
For many years BAGS ran greyhound service on behalf of its members, the betting industry (big and small) and SIS supplied everything between track and shop. But when BAGS told SIS to reduce the cost, the media rights company (significantly owned by Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfred, Tote and William Hill, plus some venture capitalists) decided that they could go it alone and have a monopoly control, much as BAGS had done previously.
The SIS plan could probably have operated on the basis of ten(ish) tracks, of which six were bookmaker owned (Hills still owned Sunderland and Newcastle). It would have meant that half the UK’s betting-shop-dependent greyhound tracks would probably close. But then the plan started to unravel.
Instead, eight tracks, fearing extinction, formed Greyhound Media Group (GMG) comprising Belle Vue, Kinsley, Nottingham, Peterborough, Poole, Sheffield, Swindon and Yarmouth and they reached a deal with ARC (owners of 16 horserace courses and SIS’s biggest rival) who nipped in to buy Newcastle and Sunderland. Towcester, who were part of the TRP, due to their horse racing commitment, then added their greyhound content.
SIS appeared to have been wrong-footed and were left looking as though they themselves wouldn’t be able to compile a fixture list suitable for the shops. But by throwing lots of money at it, and signing up Henlow, Harlow, Doncaster, and Central Park, added to the four Ladbrokes Coral tracks, and some Irish content, SIS were able to stay in the game.
So – in January 2018, we saw the commencement of the media rights war in greyhound racing. ARC pretty much took over the traditional role of BAGS with the SIS breakaway organisation in opposition. The new amalgamated Ladbrokes Coral organisation, plus Betfred, began paying for the SIS service. The independent bookies largely bought the ARC service, some bought both, and William Hill took both.
As in all wars, there were winners and losers, and SIS’s four tracks were the big winners with lucrative contracts – worth way more than their ARC counterparts. The ARC tracks have been under pressure but remain convinced that their side will be victorious in the longer term.
The fact that the court found in favour of ARC can come as no surprise. Indeed both companies would be stymied if the courts had decided that media rights did not exist and anyone could take form, results, SPs etc, from anyone else without paying for them.
So SIS would always have expected to be paying compensation. However, the judgement also determined that there had been no conspiracy in relation to the offense. That would have, presumably, added considerably to the compensation claim.
So – SIS will have to pay a significant seven figure sum to ARC. That is clear.
However, if we go back to the initial issue involving Corals, Ladbrokes and Betfred, the details of which have never been released, we might be left wondering how much compensation was paid. Or indeed, as seems likely, was the deal to then take the service, tied in with the compensation offer?
Which leads us to the current situation. The betting industry resents paying for two greyhound services. Might SIS, or their shareholders (the bookies), offer a deal en lieu of compensation? Might this be a pivotal moment for the media rights war? Would Ladbrokes, Corals and Betfred be willing to take the ARC greyhound service?
It is not of course that simple. While there is barely enough product for two services – there would obviously be a surplus for one – which would only require around 2,200 fixtures per year (six meetings per day).
Would an amalgamated product work? Presumably Ladbrokes Coral, would insist on their own four tracks being included. Also, they might not want some of the ARC tracks.
Would the big three betting companies want to be reliant on ARC for their greyhound product? Unpalatable, though not impossible. They already take it in some of their overseas shops, the Ladbrokes Belgium operation recently signed up to ARC. And of course, they already take the ARC horseracing service.
What would happen to the contracts of the tracks belonging to either side? I understand that the SIS contracts have four years remaining.
If there was a saving to be made, might tracks be offered compensation to close? I can think of four or five who would probably take it.
Word from the GMG tracks is that when the current horseracing contracts expire, ARC will insist on bundling greyhound racing as part of a future package. Might that now be brought forward?
There is such a lot to consider, and this particular writer doesn’t profess to have the intellect or foresight (or cunning) to predict how it will go.
However, anybody who isn’t concerned by developments should be, in my opinion.
BUT
(That is a very big BUT.) We have already seen more twists and turns in this saga than a dozen series of Game Of Thrones and SIS have proven master players.
Also – and this thought still hasn’t gone away. Given recent developments in the supermarket industry, if any of the tracks deemed ‘surplus’ to a unified greyhound service were to contact the Competition and Markets Authority. . . .
To quote the guy with the fat cigar: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
OR NOT.
|
|
|
Post by benny on May 9, 2019 14:57:06 GMT
very interesting article. where the merry go round will eventually stop will affect a lot of tracks out there. and a lot of upheavals will most definitely occur.
|
|