PointsBet Holdings Limited announced Thursday that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a partnership with The Stronach Group’s 1/ST Technology, in a deal that represents the latest intersection between the horse racing and sports betting industries.
Under the deal with PointsBet subsidiary Premier Turf Club LLC (BetPTC), 1/ST Technology will deliver a fully integrated, white-label advance deposit wagering (ADW) horse racing betting service to PointsBet customers in the U.S. While utilizing BetPTC’s licenses, PointsBet will own and operate the ADW business, with the ownership of customer data remaining with PointsBet, the company said in a statement.
Australian-headquartered PointsBet is operational with sports betting in more than 10 U.S. states, including New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Horse racing is immensely popular in Australia, with more than 300 thoroughbred racetracks nationwide.
. @PointsBet_AU (#ASX: $PBH) adds #horseracing #betting in the US through a five-year agreement with 1/ST TECHNOLOGY. 1/ST will provide horse racing betting products and content solutions that will be integrated with the @PointsBetUSA #sportsbook app. https://t.co/sBrBPMTVO4
— The Sentiment (@TheSentimentAu) October 6, 2022
“Today marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of our U.S. expansion strategy. Horse racing has a unique role to play alongside sports betting in the United States,” PointsBet Group CEO Sam Swanell said in a statement. “With PointsBet’s mature market, Australian racing expertise, and now a strategic partner in 1/ST Technology that provides us with a market leading portfolio of racing products and services, we can introduce new and existing customers to a dynamic and interactive PointsBet-branded horse betting experience.”
1/ST Technology is one of the nation’s largest gaming technology companies in horse racing. The Stronach Group owns several prominent U.S. racetracks, most notably Santa Anita Park in California, Gulfstream Park in Florida, and Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in Maryland. Each year, Pimlico hosts the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
“1/ST Technology is excited to be partnering with PointsBet to bring horse racing to a growing customer base across U.S. markets,” said Paul Williams, CEO of 1/ST Technology. “We are aligned on a superior product vision as well as the value that this relationship brings to our collective organizations and horse racing industry stakeholders at large.”
More specifics on the deal
As part of the five-year deal, 1/ST Technology will provide a full range of horse racing betting products and content solutions to be fully integrated within the PointsBet sportsbook app. PointsBet also plans to offer a PointsBet-branded, stand-alone ADW offering in select eligible states outside of the ones in which the company currently offers sports betting.
PointsBet has also entered into several sub-agreements under the partnership, including a white label ADW solution with Xpressbet, access to simulcast racing with Monarch Content Management, and a totalizator agreement with AmTote.
PointsBet Sportsbook at Riverboat on the Potomac is live, the latest retail sports betting news from Maryland.
https://t.co/feIcS267Qu
— Bennett Conlin (@BennettConlin) September 12, 2022
From the vantage point of 1/ST Technology, the partnership will introduce horse racing enthusiasts to sports betting and iGaming through PointsBet’s offerings. Last month, PointsBet became the seventh retail sportsbook to debut in Maryland when it went live at the Riverboat on Potomac, an expansive riverboat that also offers simulcast wagering and keno.
Intersection between racing and sports betting
The announcement comes several weeks after the rebranding of horse racing network TVG under a new name: FanDuel TV.
The network contains sports betting-themed programming in the mornings, with live horse racing from across the country in the afternoons. The rebranding provides FanDuel with an opportunity to reach more sports betting and iGaming customers by leveraging the company’s media assets, CEO Amy Howe said at a finance conference in September.
In addition, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) has made efforts to broaden its customer base through recent partnerships with BetMGM and Caesars Entertainment. At the Caesars Saratoga Derby in August, company representatives handed out replicas of the sunglasses worn by actor J.B. Smoove in a litany of Caesars Sportsbook commercials. The intersection between horse racing and sports betting figures to be more pronounced, as fixed-odds horse racing proliferates across the country.
Under a revenue-sharing deal, PointsBet will pay 1/ST Technology a portion of its ADW revenue. There are no up-front payments or minimum guarantees over the term of the contract, PointsBet said. The ADW is expected to launch in early 2023.
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