Mark Davies, the PR face of Betfair for the last decade has resigned.
“It's been fun. But in recent months I haven't been able to offer Betfair as much as I'd like to of what I think I am best at; so I think it's time to move on to new things. I have set up a company of my own, Camberton, which will offer to a broader church (i.e. I'm on the look-out for clients!) the sort of thing that I have been responsible for at Betfair over the last decade: reputation management, public affairs, PR, communications, and external stakeholder management. It's something I have talked about for a long time and now is the time to do it. And I'm pleased that Betfair think I still have a role in offering that kind of thing to them, because they are my first client! Many of the challenges that I have worked on for them remain, and I will be continuing to advise and work with them on those for at least the next twelve months,” Davies said.
In the past ten years gambling has changed more than in the second half of the twentieth century. The internet has forced racing and wagering operators to adapt, opened up new opportunities and fundamentally altered the political, economic, corporate and moral climate in which these businesses operate.
The world’s gambling centres are no longer just Vegas, Macau and Monaco; they now also include Alderney, Gibraltar, Antigua and Malta, whose favourable tax systems make them irresistible homes for internet-based companies.
For all the national differences, racing in most parts of the world has two things in common. First, it has provided one of the few legal forms of wagering and bookmaking available to most of the public for much of the past two centuries. Second, the sport depends on money from betting. Practically every national racing association the world over takes its cut from bets placed on races. In Britain 10% of bookmakers’ profits go to the Horserace Betting Levy Board, a statutory body that distributes the funds to British racing interests (mainly prizemoney but also courses, breeders and veterinary science). The levy was put in place when punters bet mainly on horseracing through the tote or licensed bookmakers. But now they have other options, including sports, betting exchanges and FOBT’s (betting machines in bookmakers’ shops) so in 2008-09 the total levy collected reached its lowest level in six years, at about £92m.
As other forms of gambling became legal, betting on racing fell. Between 2003 and 2008 the amount wagered on racing dropped by 10% in America and close to a third in Britain. But betting at the track is falling even faster. Punters in America have turned to advance-deposit wagering companies (ADWs) such as Youbet, TVG and Twinspires, which combine the functions of bookmakers and television networks, showing races from around the world. They allow punters to bet using a computer, mobile phone or television remote-control. Dedicated race fans in America can bet on European races in the morning, American ones throughout the day and Australian and Asian ones at night, all without having to leave home. And just as casinos offer free accommodation and meals to big players, ADWs offer redeemable reward points as an added incentive.
