The business sessions of the 36th Asian Racing Conference (ARC) began in Mumbai on Tuesday as Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges positioned the next three days of sessions in light of the lifeblood of the industry – wagering.
“The global economy is facing very strong headwinds and the general prevailing conditions will make it very challenging for the wagering business in the future,” said Mr. Engelbrecht-Bresges. Adding to the current macroeconomic hazards a series of ever-present challenges exist for the industry.
“Illegal gambling has always existed but what we are facing now is a fundamentally new threat. The illegal markets have gone from local markets to international markets. While it has always existed and will always be a threat, the major change is now the global consolidation of illegal betting on internet platforms. The illegal operators are exploiting technology to grow their business. The astronomic scale and multi-jurisdictional character of illegal gambling is now such that it is one of the greatest challenges facing racing and other sports,” Mr. Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
“In many countries the wagering market is in an almost constant state of flux, with changes being driven by both technology and regulation. The notion that wagering on racing is a fully mature product is a trap which must be avoided. Innovation and internationalization are key opportunities for growth.
“As an industry, we must do the following things. Embrace technology to connect directly with customers and create relevant offerings. Develop new tote technology which supports a better customer experience. Advance the development of a new tote protocol for commingling, leveraging our strength in exotic bet types. Make concerted efforts to create and protect our intellectual property rights nationally and internationally, and do the same within the Asian Racing Federation and International Federation of Horseracing Authorities to fight illegal and unregulated betting.”
Joining Mr. Engelbrecht-Bresges in addressing the conference’s opening session were Bernard Saundry, Chief Executive Officer of Racing Victoria, who identified the changing content distribution marketplace especially as it relates to Australian racing, Patrick Jay, a global sports consultant, and Tom Ascher, Chief Executive Officer of Longitude. Mr. Ascher cited Longitude’s pioneering work with the Hong Kong Jockey Club as a beacon for future growth in developing a next generation wagering proposition.
“The historic norm of one bet type per pool has held us all hostage to the limits of split liquidity. The ability to extract new bets from existing liquidity and the ability to deliver greater liquidity by combining existing bet types into merged pools has broken the liquidity barrier,” said Mr. Ascher. The Club’s relaunch of the quartet wager, merging it with the first four pool, a global first, alongside the addition of the Composite Win enhancement to the existing win pool were defined as leading edge innovations which will pave the path for future development.
The ARC continues through Thursday with a series of business and specialist sessions.
