It was 50 years ago yesterday that the first man walked on the Moon.
The timing is not accidental. You can’t force change, you have to wait for it. The Saturn V rocket which propelled Apollo 11 wasn’t built until 1967.
In fact, it took a whole series of inventions and developments, particularly the miniaturisation of computers, before a lunar mission became viable.
So where is this going?
Basically, it is an exercise in looking at small stories, whose greater significance only becomes obvious when viewed in a wider context.
For example: it is nearly a month since William Hill announced that they were to close 700 betting shops.
The story made the BBC headlines – always a fair barometer of public relevance in my book.
The national media basically blamed the new legislation for reducing stakes on the FOBT machines and taking away their sex appeal.
It was a theory (scapegoat) that suited everyone. The Government could congratulate itself on ‘being tough on gambling addiction’, the William Hill board could blame the Government for its fall in profits, and public opinion would struggle to blame anyone.
While there is no doubt that the FOBT legislation was the biggest factor in declining profits, there were inevitably unprofitable shops which would have closed anyway.
There was also the unpalatable truth that ‘retail’ is a rapidly declining sector of the betting industry. Fact.
Move on to last week and GVC, the owners of Ladbroke Coral announced, to much less fanfare, that their FOBT revenue had fallen by 39% and that they would close 900 betting shops over two years.
BUT – over-the-counter revenue was up by 8% and on-line gambling increased by 16%.
(You would also have to anticipate that 700 fewer William Hill shops can only benefit their High Street rivals.)
So where is this going?
Well another story that reached my in-folder this week concerned a deal between SIS and American company Sportstech.
Now not being brighter than the average type bear, I was a little baffled by the plan to. . . “utilise Sportech’s Quantum™ System pari-mutuel betting software to offer the greyhound global pool, leveraging Sportech’s unrivalled worldwide reach and expansive global commingling capabilities”.
Anyway – it turns out that there are some clues in the word ‘Sportstech’ – they run pool betting and various other gambling opportunities in the US and 36 other countries, with an annual turnover of $12bn.
Apparently they had their first trial run last week of broadcasting an evening greyhound meeting from Doncaster.
In the first race, the Doncaster’s tote pool attracted funds of £2.50. On the other side of the Atlantic, the tote pool on the same race was $3,500.
With live greyhound racing due to be banned in Florida next year, SIS and Sportstech see big opportunities. In fact, 350 million opportunities every year.
But it won’t stop there. The deal for two meetings per day via two of the largest on-line operators, Watch And Wager and Am West, will allow UK racing to be shown in the 17 US states that allow betting on live greyhound racing.
But I understand that there are already plans to send UK racing beyond the States and the recently signed up deals in Spain, Australia and Mexico.
Scandinavia is next in line. Lots of different countries, lots of different time zones.
Are those early morning meetings from Henlow and Harlow starting to make more sense now. . .?
So where is this REALLY going?
So great – more money will be bet on UK dog racing which should filter through to the tracks, but that is only part of the story.
The SIS tracks will have the opportunity to either continue with their ‘A pool’ betting or introduce ‘B pool’ betting.
Sign up to ‘B pool’ and your two quid, or two grand, goes into the global pool.
Bet365 – or ‘Bet 2 bob’ as they are often known by punters who have dared to win a few quid only to have their accounts closed down – will no longer be a necessarily obstacle course for punters trying to get on. The same goes for fixed odds in general.
Punters will be able to place a proper bet into a pool that is indifferent whether you win or not. Rather like betting into the exchanges.
The days of the broken SP system – where two bookies are paid to stand at a morning meeting ‘to form a market’ for three punters, are coming to an end.
I don’t know how many years I have been preaching, on this website and in the Greyhound Star newspaper that global internet pool betting was always going to be the future of greyhound racing.
But it was always ‘just over the horizon’.
Not any more.
It has come bounding over the hills, sprinted up your garden path and is about to burst through the front door.
