MEDIA RELEASE
5 December 2016
PGI and Chester announce wagering partnership
Premier Gateway International (PGI) and Chester Race Company (CRC) today announced the signing of a five-year commercial agreement to provide wagering services at Chester and Bangor-on-Dee Racecourses, commencing February, 2017.
The partnership has a number of strategic phases, but in the first instance includes delivery of the existing wagering platforms – ChesterBET and BangorBET – which have operated since 2012.
A mobile solution, facilitating the placement of bets on digital devices, without the need to make multiple visits to traditional points of sale, is to be launched by May; in time for the start of Chester’s 2017 season. The online service was recently presented at the Racing and Betting Forum in Paris on September 30th and is designed to modernise, personalise and simplify the racecourse experience.
Pari-mutuel tote betting, for domestic and international horse racing, is also part of the strategic roadmap, especially after July 2018 when the exclusive licence, currently in place for UK racing pools, is due to expire.
This partnership reflects the ethos of PGI and the ultimate owners of PGI, namely Tabcorp (Australia) and Phumelela (South Africa), to partner with the racing industry and ensure racing’s long term viability.
PGI COO Sam Nati, said: “As a rapidly expanding business we are excited to be working with Chester. Our objectives are very much aligned. That is to add value through innovation and global integration and, perhaps most importantly, to ensure the long term sustainability of racing. We also believe, more broadly, that PGI has something to offer the UK horseracing industry and have already initiated processes with the UK Gambling Commission to ensure that the appropriate licences are in place for that to happen in the future.
CRC CEO Richard Thomas said: “We are excited to enter the next phase of our betting operation with PGI. The customer experience is paramount and with the new technology that we are working on our customers will see a real difference. We are now in a great position when the pool License expires in 2018 to be able to offer both fixed odds and pool bets and in the meantime our new systems will help drive significant additional opportunities.”
PGI is a totalisator and wagering business owned by Tabcorp Europe and Phumelela Gold International with worldwide connectivity and agreements in place for hosting pools and commingling into all major markets such as Australia, France, South Africa, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Chester Race Company owns Chester and Bangor-on-Dee Racecourses offering 30 fixtures annually between the two courses.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Sam Nati
PGI – Chief Operating Officer
snati@pginternational.co.uk
Stephanie Beedles
Marketing Manager
sbeedles@chester-races.com