Picture terms set to be thrashed out next week.
Byline: HOWARD WRIGHTRACECOURSES and bookmakers will start the task of bridging a pounds 30 million gap, to enable betting shop punters to watch the bulk of British racing from May 1, on Tuesday.
A five-man team from the Racecourse Association, including track representatives Ian Penrose (Arena Leisure), Stephen Jones (Northern Racing) and Jonathan Garratt (Fontwell), are meeting a deputation from senior bookmakers led by William Hill boss John Brown.
This will be only the second formal meeting between the two sides to talk terms for taking live pictures into betting shops.
SIS, the current provider, has already offered pounds 20,000 a fixture to the 49 tracks outside the GG-Media deal, which on around 1,050 meetings would add up to approximately pounds 21m.
It is understood that the racecourse team was talking in overall terms of nearer pounds 50m at the initial meeting.
The two sides have very little time to reach agreement before betting shop screens are filled with a smattering of UK horseracing and a wealth of overseas sport and greyhounds, as well as a regular dose of numbers games.
Ripon managing director Michael Hutchinson, one of the longest-serving racecourse executives, said yesterday that he hoped the negotiators would go into their meeting on Tuesday and not emerge until satisfactory terms had been agreed.
He said: "I'm delighted the data deal has been done, but it's very disappointing that the racecourses had to take over negotiating on pictures because the BHB was getting nowhere and had left us in limbo.
"I can only hope we get a sensible deal with the bookmakers in very quick time."
RCA chief executive Stephen Atkin said: "We meet on Tuesday at noon for what I think we both hope will be negotiations that go on until we have reached an agreement or failed to reach an agreement.
"It's difficult to predict the outcome
because there is a gap between us that needs to be breached. Clearly from our perspective we very much want to reach a satisfactory deal before May 1.
"We will give it our best shot, and I'm sure the bookmakers will as well."
CAPTION(S):
Punters taking in live betting shop pictures: bookmakers and racecourses face a race against time to reach agreement
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| Title Annotation: | Sports |
|---|---|
| Publication: | The Racing Post (London, England) |
| Date: | Apr 19, 2002 |
| Words: | 376 |
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