The NTRA used the Jockey Club Round Table Conference in
Saratoga, NY, to "advertise its programs and the direction
it hopes to take" in its partnership with IBM, according to
Matt Hegarty of the DAILY RACING FORM. NTRA Commissioner
Tim Smith "called on" racing execs both to "support and
question" the partnership (see THE DAILY 6/22) designed to
acquire a "totalisator company and development of a
broadband wagering network that would link tracks from coast
to coast." But Smith "stressed" that the racing execs'
opinions "might be disregarded in favor of what is best for
the industry as a whole." Hegarty notes that the
presentation "did little to assuage the concerns of a
number" of racing execs who remain wary of the IBM project.
New NTRA board member and Fair Grounds President Bryan
Krantz said that he was "surprised at the way the IBM
project was presented." Krantz: "I think there's not as
much meat on the bones as they are saying. I don't think
there's been enough detail produced to react to what the IBM
proposal might be. I don't think IBM knows what the
proposal might be. It seemed during the presentation that
things were farther along than I suspected or had been led
to believe" (DAILY RACING FORM, 8/16).
ALL ABOUT REBATES: In DC, Andrew Beyer writes that
thoroughbred racetracks "are losing many of their best
customers," and industry leaders believe they "have
identified the cause: rebates." Operations that receive
simulcast signals such as casinos and off-track betting
(OTB) shops are "giving back to high-rollers as much as" 10%
of the money they wager, "encouraging them to desert their
home tracks." Beyer notes that even if it gave a customer
10%, an OTB outlet "still would be left with a healthy"
profit of 7% on its gross business. When the Association of
Racing Commissioners Int'l organized a task force to address
the issue, its President, Tony Chamblin, said: "We estimate
that ... parimutuel businesses ... are losing more than $500
million a year to rebates and the number is [increasing]
rapidly" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/16).
