SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Betting shop broadcaster SIS has extended its agreement as Official Pre-Race Data Distributors of British horse racing. SIS has formed a new agreement with PRD licence holder Racecourse Data Company to continue to supply the data to its retail and online customers until the end of 2018.
SIS has had an arrangement with the British Horseracing Authority and subsequently its commercial arm Racing Enterprises Ltd (REL) since 1993 for the supply of Official PRD for use in its services.
However, RDC, a joint-venture comprised of 57 of the 58 British racecourses, was assigned the PRD licence from REL with effect from 1st January. PRD is generated by Weatherbys and is the key component of information required to take a bet. It includes information on a racecard, such as final fields, owners, trainers, jockeys, weight, colours, draw and ratings.
SIS’s production and distribution of racecards and data feeds will serve 10,450 betting shops in Britain and Ireland, including the retail estates of William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred.
The agreement sanctions the distribution of PRD – both domestically and overseas – to newspapers, websites, TV and media businesses, mobile platforms, Pari-Mutuel operators, bookmakers, online betting companies, racing authorities and racecourses.
George Irvine, Managing Director, SIS Betting, said: “Our over-riding aim in discussions with RDC was to protect our customers’ interests. Our customers’ preference is for us to supply official data wherever possible, but at an acceptable price. The advantage of taking data from official rather than unofficial sources lies in its integrity. It is also a fact that the law and technology are developing at such a rate that sources of unofficial data can be ever more easily tracked and closed down by rights owners, which makes reliance on unofficial data unsustainable for most businesses.”
Richard FitzGerald, Chief Executive of Racecourse Media Group, and Tony Kelly, Managing Director of Arena Racing Company, who are both RDC Directors, said: “We are delighted that SIS has been appointed a distributor of official British horseracing Pre-Race Data and look forward to working closely with them in the best interests of the sport.
“This contract provides customers with the confidence of a long-term deal for what is a very significant piece of data. We will endeavour to work closely with our partners to showcase and expand interest in British horseracing by enhancing the way in which it is presented through existing and potential new data streams.”
