SPORTS BETTING

India – XB Net gains Indian market foothold

By William - 11 March 2022

XB Net has penned a digital distribution rights deal with established Indian platform, NorthAlley, covering the provider’s live pictures and local pool-wagering services from a network of tracks in Australia and North America.

The deal equips NorthAlley with a flexible programming schedule, supported by a steady stream of rapid-cycling wagering opportunities. NorthAlley is the Totalizator technology provider for all race clubs in India. The deal began with Hyderabad Race Club and has been extended iteratively to all other clubs.

Currently live with the Melbourne Racing Club’s (MRC) extensive group of well-known Australian racecourses, NorthAlley can draw from a product suite of data and streaming services available for over 700 Australian meetings a year, featuring top venues such as Caulfield, Moonee Valley and Flemington – including the race that stops a nation, the Melbourne Cup.

New U.S. racing rights will soon allow access to more global highlights, including the recent Pegasus World Cup, two legs of this summer’s compelling Triple Crown (featuring the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes) and the season’s flagship finale at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland (4-5 November).

“It’s a thrill to widen our geographic influence, especially in India’s sports and horse racing territories, whose underserved audiences will soon prove a boon for racing, especially as wider regulation arrives in this sleeping giant of a region,” said Simon Fraser, Senior Vice President of International at XB Net.

“NorthAlley have already proven themselves most adept at securing some cornerstone partnerships at the elite Hyderabad and Madras Racing Clubs, while the Royal Western India Turf Club in Mumbai is next on our agenda. It’s an exciting time to be continuing to grow our global audience and products, with our core North American racing service now ably abetted by some cracking racing from Australia.”

The daily timetable of action, whose chronology naturally bookends India’s domestic racing scene (with the five-hour differential to Western Australia particularly complementary for Indian mornings), supplies NorthAlley with a reliable source of fast-settling racing content at both primetime and off-peak viewing slots.

Suresh Paladugu, CEO at NorthAlley, added: “XB Net’s one-stop Australian and North American racing services have really turned our customers on to the merits of international racing, both during and after the pandemic, generating and retaining new revenue streams in the process. It’s a complementary product of rapidly increasing popularity with our key clients at Hyderabad and Madras Race Clubs, particularly before our domestic action winds up.

“Australian racing, above all, seems to fit seamlessly into our overall offering, with its time zone naturally preceding India’s domestic action and other sporting programmes. Now we’re adding U.S. racing rights too for our players, we can’t wait to see how these products perform over a packed summer of racing highlights, including the Triple Crown events of the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

“XB Net share NorthAlley’s vision and focus on enabling digital enterprise by leveraging technology as a valuable asset, helping streamline and optimise our partners’ operations so that we can increase revenues, improve the customer experience and return value to the underlying sport and its stakeholders.”