Webis subsidiary signs California racing deal
AIM-listed firm's pari-mutuel operation EWS to supply betting services of standardbred harness race meetings for the next five years.
Webis Holdings subsidiary Watch and Wager has signed an agreement with the California Exposition & State Fair (Cal Expo) for the lease and operation of standardbred harness race meetings for the next five years.
Watch and Wager, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Webis’ pari-mutuel (tote) operation, European Wagering Services (EWS), received a licence to operate betting for race meetings at Cal Expo from the Californian Horse Racing Board (CHRB) yesterday. The five-year term will commence on 1 September 2012. The CHRB has also approved Watch and Wager’s application to hold 16 race meetings in 2012, with the first meeting to take place on 2 November 2012.
AIM-listed Webis said in a statement that the deal “helps fulfil a key aspect of its strategy to extend EWS’s presence in the US following the company’s move to San Francisco”.
“The board also believes that increasing EWS’s land-based as well as online presence in the US will help the business to secure additional racing content as well as provide further leverage in management’s discussions with banking and other partners to find long-term customer payment processing solutions within the US,” it said.
Ed Comins, the Group’s Pari-mutuel Operations Director, added: “The agreement with Cal Expo represents a significant milestone in EWS’s development, both in terms of the existing business and other opportunities that we expect will arise from our involvement. We are also delighted to help secure the future of harness racing within the State of California.”
EWS acquired Nevada-based online wagering site WatchandWager.com for US$0.1m in 2010 in order to increase its presence in the US. Last month Webis announced that trading within EWS had improved in the second half as payment processing became more stable.
Average player numbers and volumes wagered both increased through the online platform and call centre, with the company saying it anticipated that EWS will launch its new WatchandWager.com site in the first half of the new financial year, which will “provide for a significantly better user experience, with live-streaming of race video”.