October
FebruaryRobin Hood he ain't
As a racegoer for more than 35 years I found Peter V’landys’ comments on TVN’s Racing Review (14/2) re the wagering issue with corporate bookies and Betfair misleading.
Mr V’landys stated that he wants everyone on a level playing field when it comes to funding the racing industry. In other words, the corporates and Betfair should pay the same as the TAB, being 1.5 percent on turnover.
Do we therefore conclude that racing participants are worse off now than they were before corporate bookies, Betfair and for that matter Racing NSW came along?
I’ve heard many trainers say they were much better off when the industry was run by the race clubs.
While 1.5 percent on turnover sounds fair and reasonable on the surface it is most certainly not for the punter, the major contributor of revenue to the industry.
The corporates and Betfair are not against paying back into the industry. They have made that abundantly clear by stating they want everyone to pay on gross profit.
Herein lies the difference. Tabcorp for too long now has imposed exorbitant takeouts on all bet types, especially exotics.
Just listen to the marketing on the Big 6 and quaddies. Why wouldn’t they push these bet types when the takeout is up to 25 cents in the dollar?
Peter V’landys says he is looking after industry participants, but indirectly he is not helping them at all.
He’s holding their money while legal proceedings linger over this issue and if the corporates were to lose it would hurt the industry as returns to punters would be far less and many would be lost to other forms of gaming and wagering.
Mr V’landys is portraying himself as a modern-day Robin Hood, claiming he’s fighting for industry participants.
By failing to accept the model where everyone pays on gross profit, and continuing legal proceedings, he is doing just the opposite!
Padstow (NSW)