21st Dec 2005 11:40
Arena Leisure PLC21 December 2005 ARENA LEISURE PLC ("ARENA") At The Races Wins High Court Victory Over BHB in Racing Data Case Arena Leisure Plc ("Arena") notes today's announcement by At The Races ("ATR")regarding its successful High Court case against the British Horseracing Board.The claim related to the supply to ATR of "pre-race data", information onrunners and riders. Roger Withers, Chairman, Arena Leisure, commented: As shareholders in ATR, we are naturally delighted that, having been forced totake this action against the British Horseracing Board over the supply ofpre-race data, ATR has been totally vindicated in its decision to take thismatter to court and has been awarded costs. We are nevertheless disappointed atthe financial resources that have been lost to the UK horse racing industry inthe form of legal fees. We now look forward to putting this issue behind us andto all parties working together to build a brighter future for the leading horseracing industry in the world, driving the popularity of UK horseracing both athome and abroad." The full statement from At The Races is follows. - ENDS - For further information, please contact: Arena Leisure PlcMark Elliott, Chief Executive 020 7495 2277 Bell Pottinger Corporate & FinancialDavid Rydell / Zoe Sanders 020 7861 3232 AT THE RACES ("ATR") VICTORY IN RACING DATA CASE ATR WINS LANDMARK JUDGMENT AFTER HIGH COURT FINDS BHB ADOPTED POLICY OF EXCESSIVE AND DISCRIMINATORY PRICING At The Races ("ATR"), the UK and Ireland's most watched dedicated racingchannel, is delighted to announce that the Judge, Mr Justice Etherton, has foundin its favour in its claim against the BHB over the issue of pre-race data. Thisis the first time a court in the UK has ever found that a business practice isin abuse of a dominant market position, a landmark in competition law. The Judgealso found that the BHB adopted a policy of excessive and discriminatorypricing, again in breach of competition law. ATR was also awarded costs with £700,000 to be paid on an accelerated basiswithin the next 21 days. The CaseThe claim related to the supply to ATR of "pre-race data", information onrunners and riders that is necessary to enable bookmakers to take bets on horseraces. ATR pays the Press Association ("PA") for the supply of a pre-race datafeed for ATR's service to overseas bookmakers, with the BHB having a separateagreement to supply the data to PA. The BHB demanded that ATR enter into anadditional licence with the BHB to pay for database rights in the data. After the European Court of Justice ruled in November 2004 that the BHB had nodatabase rights in the data, ATR asked the BHB to clarify the basis on which itsought payment. In response, the BHB said that unless ATR agreed to pay licencefees to the BHB, it would instruct PA to terminate its supply of pre-race datato ATR. ATR then brought the current proceedings, claiming that the threat by the BHB toprevent PA from supplying pre-race data to ATR constituted an abuse of adominant position under EU and UK competition laws. High Court Judgment In the hearing, ATR argued: •that the relevant market for the purposes of the proceedings was the supply of pre-race data - the BHB argued for a much broader market; •that the BHB was dominant in the market, indeed an effective monopolist - the BHB asserted that it had no dominant position; •that the BHB's conduct was an illegal refusal to supply ATR; that pre-race data is an "essential facility" controlled by the BHB; that the licence fees proposed by the BHB were excessive and unfair; and that the BHB was discriminating against ATR. BHB tried to justify the charges on the basis that ATR should pay the BHB for investments made by the BHB and others in British horseracing, irrespective of whether those investments benefited ATR or overseas bookmakers On all of these points the court found in ATR's favour. Matthew Imi, Chief Executive, At The Races said: "We have been totally vindicated by this resounding judgment. The BHB has beenfound to have abused its position and pursued a discriminatory and excessivepricing policy. Its actions have resulted in an unnecessary and considerablewaste of its resources both financial and in management time. ATR contributessignificant sums to British horseracing through its media rights payments to itsracecourse partners and we have made massive strides in increasing the exposureof British racing, both at home and internationally. ATR has had a fantasticyear and we now look forward to 2006 with even more optimism." ATR was advised by Olswang. - ENDS - For further information, please contact: Robin Tozer / Zoe Sanders / David RydellBell Pottinger Corporate & Financial Tel: 0207 861 3232 NOTES TO EDITORS • At The Races ("ATR") is the UK and Ireland's most watched dedicated horseracing channel. It launched on June 11th 2004. • It is a joint venture between BSkyB, Arena Leisure plc, Ascot Racecourse, Northern Racing and several other racecourse partners. It has agreements with 28 UK racecourses and all 27 Irish racecourses. • Broadcasting 24 hours a day in basic subscription packages, At The Races is currently available to 10 million multi-channel subscribers across the UK and Ireland through Sky, NTL, Chorus, Telewest and NTL Ireland. • Over 1.2 million individuals tune into the channel every month. An average of 40,000 to 50,000 are watching at any time during live UK and Irish racing with a record 360,000 different individuals tuning into the channel on one day. • Outside the UK and Ireland At The Races distributes its content into over 20 countries by means of its own international channel - "At The Races International"- and through its agreement with SIS. Territories include Holland, Germany, the Caribbean, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Italy, South Africa and Australia. • At The Races broadcasts racing from over 1,000 UK and Irish race meetings per year and is the only UK channel broadcasting live racing from the USA on a daily basis. It also broadcasts high quality racing from France, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Dubai and Germany. • In addition to its broadcast activities, At The Races generates up to £2 million per week in turnover from interactive red button betting on the Sky platform alone. An interactive betting service recently launched on the NTL cable network and ATR also has an agreement with Telewest to quickly develop a similar interactive betting application. • In May 2005, in partnership with William Hill, At The Races was the first UK broadcaster to launch a live, daily sports service to 3G mobile users in the UK. • Attheraces.com, run in partnership with SkySports.com, has quickly established itself as the No. 2 domestic horseracing website, behind RacingPost.co.uk, with nearly 300,000 monthly unique users and over 20 million monthly page impressions. • At The Races also successfully launched its branded casino and poker sites - attheracescasino.com and attheracespoker.com - with the objective of occupying the position of 'racing's online casino'. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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