Long story short: The California Horse Racing Board on Thursday approved exchange wagering regulations that are at least two months from taking effect. The board also approved provisional licenses for Betfair US and Churchill Downs Inc. to offer the betting system if the CHRB rules are finalized by a different California state agency.
Questions for Churchill during the meeting centered on whether Churchill is ready to proceed now with exchange wagering, without directly asking whether company officials are stalling. Churchill would be new to exchange wagering, while the other California licensee, Betfair US, is part of a company that already conducts exchange wagering overseas.
Churchill’s level of interest in exchange wagering remains unclear. A spokeswoman declined a request for comment after the meeting. Since my last post on the issue, I found a quote by Churchill vice president Brad Blackwell on the CHRB website from a February meeting transcript that appears to be the best summation of the company’s position:
“We were not pushing exchange wagering, but we would look at competing. And, certainly, we plan to compete if California moves forward. It’s something we would — may do so — reluctantly. Again, we don’t know that this is the best thing for the industry. But certainly, again, to turn this over to one company, we think would be a huge injustice to the industry.”
Aside from Churchill, one interesting side comment during the meeting came from Stephen Burn, Betfair’s U.S. and TVG chief.
Burn said there is no rush on licensing, and “we continue to want to work with the industry and to do whatever we can in order to get this thing deployed next year. I think the best way of doing that from my perspective with regard to the issues that I face, you know, internally is to get some clarity from the board that there is a meaningful attempt to try and get something launched next year.”
Burn did not amplify about those internal issues. Were they purely logistical or is Betfair getting tired of waiting for a return on its investment of more than $10 million for a California exchange wagering platform?
Betfair bought TVG in 2009, California’s legislature approved exchange wagering in 2010 to take effect this year and, now, it will take effect next year at the earliest.
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