The Age
THE Northern Territory-based corporate bookmakers have
threatened to take whatever legal action possible to prevent Racing
Victoria Ltd going ahead with its plan to introduce a
turnover-based product fee on Victorian racing.
The three major Darwin-based firms - SportingBet Australia, IAS
Bet and Australian Sportsbet - are outraged that the RVL Board has
decided on a 1.25 er cent turnover-based product fee if they want
to operate on Victorian racing.
RVL yesterday released details of its long-awaited product fee
policies as a result of the controversial race fields legislation
introduced by the State Government late last year.
After finally honouring its pledge to RVL to introduce the
legislation, which was looked upon in some quarters as a severely
flawed document, the Government handed back to RVL the
responsibility of making it work.
The main provision of the legislation is that all "wagering
service providers" not licensed in Victoria have to apply to RVL
for permission to publish Victorian race fields, which account for
as much as 50 per cent of their racing turnover.
RVL chief executive Robert Nason said the policies announced
yesterday, including the 1.25 per cent product fee, were designed
so the use of the Victorian race fields did not impact on the
integrity of Victorian racing and that the "approved wagering
service providers" made an "appropriate economic contribution to
the Victorian thoroughbred racing industry".
Michael Sullivan, managing director of SportingBet Australia,
said a product fee based on turnover was "totally unfair and
unsatisfactory".
"Any product fee should be based on profit (because) turnover is
not relevant, it doesn't relate to any other business. We will
exercise our right to go to the Minister (John Pandazopoulos) and,
if necessary, the ACCC and the courts.
"A turnover tax is simply unfair and we will fight it all the
way," Sullivan said.
IAS Bet founder Mark Read, a bookmaker for more than 30 years,
said he was "flabbergasted" that RVL had come up with a 1.25 per
cent product fee on turnover after more than three years of
discussions.
"We (the bookmakers) have always been prepared to pay a fair and
equitable charge for the product, but it seems to me they are just
trying to get rid of bookmakers to protect the TAB monopolies,"
Read said.
He described RVL's business model relating to product fees as
"totally flawed" and would only hasten a further decline of
racing's share of the wagering dollar.
Read said that 20 years ago, horse racing accounted for 65 per
cent of market share, which had now dropped to 9 per cent as
punters turned to other products such as sports betting.
"My view is that if the present trend is allowed to continue,
the whole racing industry will fall on its knees," he said.
Matthew Tripp, of Australian Sportsbet, said one likely result
of RVL's decision would be that operators would move off shore and
it would be back to the bad old days of SP bookmakers.
Tripp said that if the RVL model went ahead, the other states
would follow suit and his company could be up for more than $2
million a year.
While RVL is processing the 18 applications from bookmakers to
bet on Victorian racing, the interim approvals granted to date have
been extended by a month to May 31.
Nason said that once approvals were granted, the payment of
product fees would not come into force until after September 1. He
said the product fees could mean at least "two or three million
dollars a year", which would go towards prizemoney in Victoria.
