|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Aussie
Rules
|
Media Release
Betfair has today written to the Chief Executives of peak sporting bodies in Australia including the Australian Football League, the Australian Rugby Union, Tennis Australia and the National Rugby League, expressing a desire to strike an agreement for appropriate compensation for betting that takes place on their sports. An example of the letter follows. 24th June 2004 Dear I am writing to you with a view to setting up a meeting to discuss how you can be properly compensated for betting that takes place on your sport. Although this letter is somewhat premature, given that, as you may be aware, the future of betting exchanges currently hangs in the balance, I think it is important to convey to you, as we are doing to all other sports in Australia, our strongly-held view that you should be paid for the use of your product. I understand that this is not currently the case. You may be aware of Betfair. We are a bookmaker which will only accept a bet in the event that we can immediately offset the full risk of that bet. The result is that, while we offer a fixed odds service in line with corporate bookmakers, we also have no risk, like a totalisator. Because we also have no fixed costs of a network of shops (being web-based), this means that we can offer significantly better prices to our punters than they are accustomed to receiving from the traditional players. Our clearly-stated view – and you may know that I expressed it most publicly at an IOC conference in May of last year – is that where sport provides a means of a wagering operator making money, it should be compensated for the use of its data. I understand that currently, that your organisations receives no payment from the wagering industry. Instead, money accrued from your sport is paid to the racing industry. We believe this to be wrong: it is your sport, and you should be paid for it. Racing, in turn, gets paid for racing. I would like to set up a meeting with you to discuss a sensible fee for use of your data. We pay all those who can demonstrate ownership of their data for the use of it. For example, we pay a fixed fee to the British Football Association, and we would suggest we do the same to you. I am writing to all sports bodies in Australia, and are in the process of concluding deals with some of them. I would welcome the chance to do the same with you. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely,
Mark Davies
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
