The Melbourne Cup is one of the most prestigious events on the Australian
horse racing calendar. According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Victoria
Racing Club, it is estimated that over 700 million people in over 120 countries
regularly watch the race live or on replay.
Betfair, the global facing UK gaming group, which also has offices in
Australia, has announced the signing of a lucrative new deal with the Victoria
Racing Club that should thrill UK punters.
The one year, non-exclusive deal will see Betfair stream the racing club's
races, including the Melbourne Cup, to its overseas customer base which totals
over three million customers.
"The VRC, which has pioneered wagering on Australian racing through the
Melbourne Cup, is delighted to be able to partner with Betfair to take the 2009
Emirates Melbourne Cup Day to the world," said the CEO of the Victoria Racing
Club, Dale Monteith.
"This initiative builds upon strategies undertaken by the VRC, over the past
decade, to encourage the world to wager on the race that stops our nation and to
return tangible benefits to the Victorian racing industry," he added.
"We're delighted to have entered into this arrangement with the VRC,"
commented the Chief Executive Officer of Betfair Australia, Andrew Twaits. "For
our first local streamlining agreement to cover Australia's premier race day is
a real thrill for us. We're sure it will attract a lot of interest amongst our
overseas customer base."
Twait said that the real challenge for Betfair was to work with the rest of
the racing industry to take Australian industry to the world.
Betfair offers one of the largest choices of sports betting in the world,
covering all types of sport, including football, cricket, tennis golf and horse
racing
In addition, the site also offers casino gaming, poker, exchange games,
arcade offering and lots more.
