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Today, UK Tote Group (UKTG) and Hong Kong Jockey Club announced a new agreement for five years that will allow them to integrate their relationship further until at least 2028.
The new terms allow the UK Tote Group to continue building on their collaborative partnership that has grown significantly since UK Tote Group purchased the Tote in October 2019.
World Pool has grown and developed to be one of the most successful projects in recent years. It is the fifth year of World Pool, which brings together 28 pool betting operators around the world to form a pool managed by HKJC. This pool covers 25 major race meetings including 18 in UK and Ireland. World Pool provides racing fans with a better betting experience, resulting in a large amount of liquidity.
In the UK and Ireland, the UK Tote is now the exclusive pool partner of World Pool. This agreement will allow for collaboration to develop exciting new developments including new bets and improvements in the customer experience. World Pool generates new funds for British and Irish racing through media rights payments. These funds will be used to fund British racing’s most important meetings. World Pool’s funds will continue to grow as the company grows.
In 2023, there will be 25 World Pool Days, 18 of which are in Great Britain and Ireland, between May and Oct., with over PS31,000,000 in prize money. World Pool had a record-breaking global turnover last year of PS650million, with PS521million bet on British and Irish racedays, a 44% increase on the previous year.
Tote customers from the UK and Ireland will be able to continue to place wagers on multi-million pound pools for top racing at Hong Kong’s two racecourses – Happy Valley and Sha Tin – via tote.co.uk, tote.ie, and Tote Apps. This includes FWD Champions Day, in April, and the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races in December.
Winfried Engelbrecht Bresges, Chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “The UK Tote has been our principal commingling partners, and we’re very happy to extend our relationship with them for the next five-years through this new agreement. This new agreement is a testament to the UK Tote’s role in growing World Pool during the past four years. “We look forward to working with John Williamson and Alex Frost, as well as the Tote team, to continue to build on the platform we created to enhance the pool betting experience of racing fans worldwide.”
John Williamson said, “This is an important moment for UK Tote Group and British and Irish Horseracing as we continue to expand and develop our partnership with Hong Kong Jockey Club. This agreement allows us to accelerate the growth of World Pool, which has become an important revenue source for the sport. Our partnership will continue to grow and we will continue to promote Hong Kong’s racing to the world. We are also collaborating on technology innovations, new bet types, etc. to provide a compelling pool betting experience for our customers.
I would like to express my gratitude to Winfried and the outstanding team of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. We want to ensure that the UK Tote stays true to its founding principle of supporting both horseracing as well as the customer by signing this agreement.
