Mobile Phone Betting for Aqueduct, Belmont & Saratoga

2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park

The 2008 Breeders' Cup, thoroughbred racing's most prestigious event, consisting of 14 Breeders' Cup races and $25.5 million in purses, will be held on October 24-25, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

But before that, Belmont Stakes winner Da'Tara is going to race in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course while Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown will be racing in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

Posted on Saturday, January 13th, 2007

Forget hanging out in off-track betting parlors. New Yorkers will soon be allowed to make their horse racing bets online or via cell phone.

Starting January 22, New York plans to allow people to place bets on horse racing via the Internet or other electronic platforms, including cell phones, thanks to a new regulation adopted by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board. A company called Sona Mobile plans to sell racetrack software that will make it easier for people to make bets from their mobile handsets.

Shawn Krelloff, chief executive of Sona, believes the regulations, coupled with his company’s software, could breathe new life into the New York horse racing industry.

“Generally, horse racing appeals to an older, male demographic,” he said. “They’re the guys who go to the track or hang out in OTB (off-track betting) parlors. Placing wagers from a cell phone appeals to a younger generation. And that could incrementally grow revenue for the industry.”

Sona has already struck a deal with the New York Racing Association, the owner and operator of the three largest racetracks in New York. Initially, the deal calls for Sona to help build NYRA’s Web site for online betting. The company also hopes to sell NYRA its mobile software to enable wagers from cell phones.

Gambling is highly regulated in the United States, with most forms of off-site wagering banned in every state, except Nevada. The only off-site betting that is allowed in roughly 35 states is on horse or dog racing. In some states like New York, off-track betting parlors have been set up to take bets. And people are able to call in bets from a telephone. [via cNet tech news]

HorsesWild has Triple Crown 2007 trail (Kentucky Derby, Preakness & Belmont Stakes)

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"Mobile Phone Betting for Aqueduct, Belmont & Saratoga" was posted on Saturday, January 13th, 2007 at 9:20 am and is filed under Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Horse Racing Industry, Saratoga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.