Sports Betting Heavyweights In The Dock

High court trial investigates Turf TV dispute

Until recently, and for the last twenty years, horse races were broadcast to UK betting shops by the Satellite Information Services (SIS), part-owned by Ladbrokes and William Hill, two of the biggest bookmakers in Britain.

Last year, 31 racecourses across the country decided to join forces with Alphanumeric to form TurfTV. TurfTV shows live horseraces and bookies must sign up and pay for broadcasting if they want to show the races in their shops. Live racing is clearly a big draw for punters, who like to place bets and then watch the race live to see if they have scored big.

Initally, of the big 4 bookmakers, only Gala Coral decided to sign up and pay for the service. Races from subscribed tracks, like Ascot and Cheltenham, could only be shown at Coral shops due to TurfTV’s exclusive deal.

Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfred refused to sign the deal, claiming that the new expense is unfair and one they can ill afford. However, they were forced to capitulate when it became clear that customers were going to shops that showed the live races.

The Gambling firms claim that the 31 racecourses involved breached the law by selling exclusive rights to TV pictures of the horse races, causing serious distortion of the market. TurfTV has however presented a counter claim against the bookmakers, stating that they colluded against TurfTV.

The fierce war between the betting companies and racetracks finally came to court this week, since both sides failed to reach an agreement.

Turf TV had hoped for an out-of-court settlement, but there was little common ground and a lot of anger on both sides over what has hugely affected the horse-racing and betting industry in the UK.

It is sure to be a costly trial, costing each side at least £5 million, no matter who comes out winning.

Related posts

• No related posts.