CA-based Youbet.com, the online racing wagering
service, said that it has "fired" 34 employees, or 29% of
its workforce, according to Matt Hegarty of the DAILY RACING
FORM. In addition, company President & COO A.L. Frank has
resigned, and Exec VP Ron Luniewski "will take on Frank's
roles." In a release, the company said the moves were made
to "conserve cash to proceed with the ongoing aggressive
development and expansion of its core horseracing business."
Hegarty noted that after losing $11.1M in '98, Youbet.com
lost $23M in '99 (DAILY RACING FORM, 11/28). Youbet.com,
which offers betting on 61 tracks in the U.S. and Canada,
also "plans to combine its on-line horse racing and sports
related products into a single Web site" (THOROUGHBRED
TIMES, 11/28). Shares of Youbet.com closed yesterday at
$1.00, down 13.5%. In early trading this morning, shares
were down another 21% to stand at $0.78 (THE DAILY).
A BETTING MAN: CNNfn's Phil O'Sullivan profiled Earl
Klein, Founder of horseracing.com.hk. O'Sullivan reported
Klein "tailors race statistics to help a niche group of
clients place their bets more efficiently." O'Sullivan:
"[Klein] sells them numerical data, not opinions, and he's
not picking winners for his clients." Klein: "Our primary
goal when it comes to the data service is to make them more
efficient, not necessarily to make them a better analyst or
a better player." O'Sullivan reported 70% of Klein's
"clients are overseas" ("Entrepreneurs Only," CNNfn, 11/28).
