Phumelela’s Group Chief Executive Officer Rian du Plessis is delighted with the deal and said: “The future of tote betting lies in the online environment and Betfair is a significant player in this market.
“Betfair are an extremely progressive operation. This matches our ambitions and consequently we are examining other areas of co-operation,” added Du Plessis.
Betfair’s Head of Horse Racing Business Development Steven Johnson said: “This deal further underlines our commitment to the support of international racing. We now have tote betting on our site in four jurisdictions – South Africa, Ireland, Australia and the UK – and this partnership will send money back into South African racing both from our exchange and the Tote product.”
About Phumelela Gold Enterprises (PGE) www.tabonline.co.za:
- Phumelela Gold Enterprises (PGE) is a joint venture between South African horseracing and tote betting operators Phumelela and Gold Circle. PGE is managed by JSE-listed Phumelela and owns the domestic and international broadcast and information rights to South African horseracing. PGE also sets fixtures for all South African racecourses and owns and manages Tellytrack, South Africa's domestic horseracing TV channel.
- PGE has acquired the worldwide betting-related broadcast rights to 30 of the UK's 60 racecourses (the Racing UK rights), including 10 of the 12 "Super" tracks from Racing UK (RUK).
- PGE, in partnership with Racing UK and the UK Tote (Totesport), offers a daily racing-betting package to the global market on South African-based TV channel Racing International, which is beamed via satellite across six continents.
About Betfair www.betfair.com:
- Betfair is the world’s biggest online betting community and pioneered the first successful betting exchange in 2000. Driven by cutting-edge technology, Betfair enables customers to choose their own odds and bet even after the event has started. The company now processes over 6-million transactions a day from its 2-million registered customers around the world. In addition to horseracing and sports betting, Betfair offers a portfolio of innovative products including casino, exchange games and poker.
- Betfair has twice been named the UK’s ‘Company of the Year’ by the Confederation of British Industry and remains one of the only betting companies to win a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, being recognised for Innovation in 2003 and most recently for International Trade in 2008.
- Betfair currently employs over 1,500 people, principally in London, Malta and Tasmania. The company is a licensed betting operator in the UK, and holds licenses in Australia, Germany, Austria, Italy and Malta.