Chief Stipe

I must say Brodie I've never been this angry with a Government before. I don't watch news on TV anymore and struggle to read the Stuff and NZ Herald websites without throwing something. To top it off the Government threw $50m at them. The BS is just constant and the journalism is very very poor. I try to get a rational educated view of the world by reading data based reports so I can decide for myself what the truth is. The latest data I've been researching is regarding a wider testing of the population beyond testing for active cases. That is data concerning antibody testing or testing for those that have HAD the virus. Today it was was reported on Worldometer that 8,000 Covid-19 tests were completed in NZ yesterday. A total of 168,00 to date. NOT ONE test was for antibodies. Every test was of those "displaying symptoms" or random supermarket queue testing. Yesterday I read a science paper that reported on the global testing for antibodies. Their modeling and conclusion was that 10% of the GLOBAL POPULATION have been infected. That's over 700 million people. When you then look at the fatality rate it isn't even close to the seasonal flu.

Who knows. The bigger point is it ISN'T necessary. The WRONG strategic decision for broadcasting is leading to the WRONG decisions about race course viability. The NZRB/RITA have spent beyond their means on flash toys that they didn't need. Now it requires some ballsy leadership to review those decisions.

All for the wrong reasons!!!

I have it on good authority that the reason they are racing at Ascot Park (Invercargill) and not Wingatui (Dunedin) is that Ascot Park has..........wait for it.......a permanent fibre connection!!!!!! Great we'll get high definition coverage of the rain drops (buckets?) and mud clods flying!!!! Of course the majority of starters will have to travel there! FFS RITA get it sorted! That doesn't mean fast tracking the installation of a permanent fibre connection at Wingatui either! What it does mean is reviewing EVERY Strategic Decision made before RITA's inception. Time to start re-negotiating contracts with your vendors!!!!!

There are numerous models. Some are owned by the TAB, some are agencies that are solely betting shops and there are others that are the equivalent of agencies but are within pubs. Then you have the Pokie venues where the TAB owns the pokies and there are usually betting facilities in the same premises. It seems there are as many variations as there are outlets! The only thing common is that the TAB supplies a network connection for the terminals and TV's. My understanding is that the TV's are on their own digital feed now well certainly the ones displaying the odds are. The TAB even owns the printer. They sub-contract to IT providers for repairs and maintenance. I disagree - actually vehemently disagree. I think the sole TAB agency i.e. the outlet that is only a betting shop is dead. The Sport's Bar isn't. I don't think the TAB have grasped the Sports Bar. Unlike our Aussie counterparts. What we've done is basically replicate a racecourse tote window and distanced it from the Bar's main business - selling alcohol. Sorry I should be more PC - providing entertainment. In OZ they have self service little card reader boxes sitting on the bar i.e. it is efficient. We went down the path of providing big expensive self service terminals well away from staff and so they can't offer assistance. We also at the same screwed the pub agency over in terms of what % they earn from the bets. So do you remove the terminals and push people to use their smart phones? Well you'd be surprised how many regular pub/sports bar punters don't use the app. Not surprising really when the app isn't easy to use and there has been no in-house training at the pub for regular punters. In that respect I take my hat off to the local bar manager who has gone out of his way to help and educate the locals on using it. That started when he had to verify the identity of locals so they could access their accounts. I bet the TAB didn't provide any recompense to the owner of the establishment. Pushing people to use the phone app in a pub agency will kill off yet another sector of betting revenue. They did that when they killed Free-to-Air Trackside and Phone betting. I don't think these TAB marketing people have any brains or there is a huge disconnect between Marketing and IT (not uncommon in corporations I might add). The local pub agency I talked about has a TAB data circuit installed for the TV's, terminals, TV odds display. But the local pub doesn't have free WiFi. It would be easy peasy for the TAB to provide free WiFi off the fixed data connection but do they? Only needs a $50 box and an ethernet cable to the router/ntu and some minor network changes. If you really wanted to get mean about its use you could limit what people could access to just the NZ TAB. Not that I've seen anyone watching porn in the pub. As for people writing cheques. Again you would be surprised. I know lots and lots of people that still do. They just happen to be the same people that prefer being served by a person working on a TAB terminal. Why do they write cheques? Well to do financial transactions across the internet scares them for two main reasons. One they find the technology challenging and two they are scared that they will make a mistake or someone will hack them. Both valid reasons. Mind you the banks in their arrogance are no different to the TAB. When lockdown first started I thought I'd take advantage of the once in a lifetime favourable forex rates and exchange some hard currency. I found that although the banks were an "essential service" they were closed. Then they decided to open one day a week for a few hours. So I pitch up to the very long queue. A bank rep then walked down the queue asking people what "essential service" were they there for. The rep told anyone who could do their business on the phone or the internet to leave (they weren't doing forex exchange!). Now there were people of an elder age group (not ancient by any means) who were in the queue because that's how they always did their banking. The bank rep said "OK come in and we will set you up for internet banking and show you how to use it." Some old dears had anxiety attacks there and then. Anyway if the TAB wanted or wants everyone to use the internet and their app why didn't they send trainers/reps out on a Saturday morning/afternoon to show people how to do it? Why didn't THEY go to THEIR customer and help them with the identity verification? NUP it didn't happen or they relied on the unpaid assistance of the local bar manager.

Why is he grumpy? His opinion is valid.

The availability of a permanent fixed high speed fibre connection is a "Red Herring" for a number of reasons. Ask yourself - "Why wasn't it necessary before Covid-19 to broadcast from those racecourses that didn't have it?" The answer is they used other types of connectivity back to the central studio like, but not limited to, satellite. There are other options that are available e.g. temporary circuits, 4G WiFi. The argument now against Satellite use is it is "too expensive." Now that is another "Red Herring." Why has it suddenly become too expensive? How do they do it in Australia? Is Alice Springs on a permanent fixed high speed fibre connection? Echuca? Fanny Bay? There are cheaper options that don't need to be a permanent solution e.g. 4G WiFi or even a permanent fibre connection on each course that is only enlivened for each race day. A permanent fibre connection isn't that expensive to install. On race day just just connect your moveable network and broadcast equipment to it and pay for the data you use. At the end of the day though the data volume RITA would use is all paid through the one account and they would have (should have) negotiated favourable terms. So where is this Bullshit coming from. As you know I don't normally swear on BOAY but this sort of crap annoys me! My guess is that strategically RITA has bought into a high cost broadcast model. It probably aligns with their long term goal of centralisation - well they think it does. The high cost model involves permanent infrastructure and huge data pipes. This isn't where the rest of the innovative world is heading. Who is driving this? The Broadcast and IT geeks aided and abetted by the Telco. The Broadcast geeks - they want multi-streams of high definition uncompressed broadcast feeds back to a central studio. This allows them to be "creative" and demonstrate their amazing skills. Like multiple views of a race, zooming in on a the tongue tie so we can see if it is a rubber band, pantyhose or a piece of string, zooming in on the fashion in the field contestants so we can see if they are wearing bra's and what brand they are or sticky tape. Now what the Broadcast geeks forget is what business they are in. They are in the business of providing at most 3 minutes of racing action so those that pay i.e. the punter and owners can see if their chosen horse gets across the line first. Most of whom don't have a 4k HD TV let alone thinking about getting a 8k one! Has anyone asked what happens to the squillions of bytes of data (video) that they capture across those high speed fibre connections? It probably gets stored in a data centre and is never seen by anyone on TV. I'm sorry but I don't want to see a 4k High Definition view of Bevan Sweeney! The IT geeks - well they like permanent infrastructure. Especially new stuff. The more lights the better. They take their bosses and other stakeholders on tours and show them the big flashy cabinets with all the lights pulsating. "They must be important." Where it gets complicated with corporates is when they outsource a lot of their IT to big corporates like Spark and Datacom who don't really understand racings core business. The Vendors have an incentive to put in permanent infrastructure and big pipes - they make more money. Plus it is easier to support because the can sub-contract onsite installation and repairs to to other organisations and they can monitor things centrally with young people who are paid stuff all to watch for alarms. Now this suits the in-house IT folk because they have shifted the blame if something goes wrong to a Service Level Agreement. I could go on and on. I'm old-school IT.....well actually I'm not old-school I just have some good solid IT management principles and a forever alert technical Bullshit antenna. My base principle as an IT Manager is I'm there to serve and enable the business. To do that I have to understand the business and to put it simply - where does the revenue come from and how to I using IT enable more of it and at less cost. As an apology to the Broadcast, IT and the Vendor minions it isn't necessarily their fault that things get stuffed up. It all comes back to their management. THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT BUSINESS THEY ARE IN!

Mr Allen must be a busy busy man at the moment. He is also Chair of the New Zealand Police Assurance and Risk Committee. Start joining the dots......Glenda Hughes..... I wonder what his advice has been on supporting IWI road blocks? Or the legality of arresting people on beaches? I would expect him to have some knowledge as he was a former partner of Rudd Watts & Stone, specialising in commercial and public policy issues, John is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington and was a visiting Lecturer in Law at the University.

McKenzie has very little control over NZTR. He should look closer to home first i.e. his own Senior Management. As for the RIU - RITA and each of the codes have a 25% shareholding of the RIU Limited. So it isn't McKenzie's decision alone. If I was Godber I'd be afraid as he has the responsibility at the RIU.

Aside from the fact that the above is a Stuff article that has been re-edited since first being published e.g. unless my memory has further degraded in the last few days I'm sure the first release mentioned 70 contractors as part of the 30%. Points to note: Hendry was bought in from MFAT by the previous CEO - John Allen. So he has been on board at NZRB/RITA for about 5 years. It has taken a crisis for him to work out that they have too many staff! Really? You didn't work that out in the last 5 years? You kept borrowing dosh though. "Efficient and more commercially focused business" - where on your CV is that experience? MFAT? ".....we invested in critical improvements across our business in recent years with major technology and broadcast enhancements and a new betting platform." I'd argue that the critical improvements you invested in weren't critical nor improvements! "...major technology and broadcast enhancements and a new betting platform." What is becoming apparent now is that the technology and broadcast enhancements were expensive "Rolls Royce" versions. To be expected given your arrived from a Government department (MFAT) known for its excesses. Wasn't Winston the Minister at one stage? Spark (Telecom) saw you coming. I guess you are hooked into expensive telco contracts for 5 years? As for the new betting platform. No comment. "...deliver new revenue streams, was at a critical juncture, before being inevitably delayed.” Porkies! Porkies! The Racefields Legislation that you obliquely refer to was delayed BEFORE Covid-19. Anyhow the "new revenue streams" were grossly overstated! Don't you read DIA reports? Yes and your unrestrained largesse over the previous 5 years will screw the very heart of New Zealand racing - the provinces. Thank God for Aussie racing! "...no returns from our gaming business." The Pokies. Most of that revenue went to the RIU either directly (NZRB/RITA) or via the other shareholders - NZTR, HRNZ and GRNZ. As the RIU is a Limited Liability company are you going to put it on the market? Slash staff? "It will require change in how we present racing, how we sell bets, where we sell bets..." Goodbye the last of the agencies.

Susan Edmunds 16:44, May 06 2020 Punters have been limited to Australian racing and 'sports like table tennis from Eastern Europe'. Trustworthy, accurate and reliable news stories are more important now than ever. Support our newsrooms by making a contribution. The TAB is planning to reduce its workforce by 30 per cent as it responds to the impact of Covid-19. That is believed to represent about 160 jobs. An email was sent to staff from Stephen Hendry, chief operating officer, which said the organisation had developed a proposal to “rescope” the TAB. “We are battling an extraordinary world pandemic that has had far-reaching consequences," he wrote. "Regrettably, for the TAB, that requires a high level of change to ensure we can come out of this and be sustainable for many years to come. It will mean we will need to be a leaner, more efficient and more commercially focused business, with about 30 per cent less roles.” The Racing Industry Transition Agency, which operates the TAB, claimed $4.075 million in wage subsidies for 595 employees. Hendry said the Covid-19 outbreak had happened at a time when the business and industry was vulnerable. “As you know, we invested in critical improvements across our business in recent years with major technology and broadcast enhancements and a new betting platform. And the programme of Government-led transformation, which will deliver new revenue streams, was at a critical juncture, before being inevitably delayed.” The Racing Industry Transition Agency, which operates the TAB, claimed $4.075 million in wage subsidies for 595 employees. Since mid-March, punters had only been able to access Australian racing and “sports like table tennis from Eastern Europe”, he said. “Our monthly revenue during Covid-19 is 47 per cent less than forecast and customer numbers are down more than 35 per cent; with betting on sport down about 75 per cent compared to pre-Covid-19. And there have been no returns from our gaming business. “We also predict revenue next year will be down considerably with domestic racing getting back slowly and at fewer venues, uncertainty around the return of quality domestic and international sport and reduced spending by many New Zealanders.” He said while the organisation was grateful for the sacrifices made by staff so far, it was not enough to offset the blow. “The changes proposed will affect every part of our business. It will require changes in the work we do and how we resource our business. It will require change in how we present racing, how we sell bets, where we sell bets and how our corporate office functions support the rest of the business.” Staff were told they would be invited to a meeting on Monday where the proposals would be outlined. Hendry said it was planned that the new structure would be effective from June 22. “We also want to share with you options to consider that will reduce costs and may work for your situation. These options, voluntary redundancy and voluntary unpaid leave, are entirely voluntary and will be available for you to express interest in, right up until the closing date for consultation. More information of these options is attached.” The Racing Industry Transition Agency has been approached for comment.

24 days and counting.

I know that Mardigras - you have drummed that into readers for ages. However what we also know is that the Revenue from the Gross Fixed Odds turnover stream is on a percentage basis a lot less than the Revenue from the Gross Tote Odds pool. Excuse the pun but the revenue from the Tote Pool is Fixed as a percentage. We also know that it costs more to provide Fixed Odds than it does the Tote.

Isn't it a bit like REBATES for the little people? Must cost IF it doesn't entice people to LOSE more of THEIR money. I guess it might get the pathological gambler to bet more. At the end of the day bonus bets do COST the TAB. I doubt that they return a profit and I haven't seen any evidence to the contrary. Still waiting for Agent54's explanation on how they work. Ultimately they are promoting further leakage from the Tote to Fixed Odds. What we do know is that the % of revenue from Tote turnover is a lot greater than the turnover from Fixed Odds. We also know that not only is the revenue generated by Fixed Odds is less on a percentage of turnover basis but also has much higher costs. Even if the odds are auto generated as we are led to believe with this new computer system. Which also raises the point that the reason RITA is in shit creek (in private enterprise terms - INSOLVENT) is they spent $50-$70m+ of hard earned or borrowed on a system that provides more Fixed Odds options! Go figure! I've said this many many times - why is it that the General Manager of Betting & Product, presumably the architect of the above, continues to keep his job? Will be interesting to see if he is one of the 230 that goes or one of the 530 that stays. He (they) keep killing the Golden Goose - the Tote.

Not correct Mardigras. One type of bonus bet was where they would put $10 or more in your account as a bonus bet. Obviously you couldn't remove it as cash well not straight away. You then place a fixed odds bet using the $10 bonus. For example Winx is paying $5 for a win. If you used your own money NOT the bonus you would get $50 back if it wins. If you used the bonus they subtract the $10 and you get $40. They do this when you place the bet. The other bonus you get is when you deposit $30 or more of fresh money into your account and they top up with $20 or more of bonus money. The trick with the top up is to use their money to reclaim the $30 in winnings i.e. withdraw the $30 from the $20 bonus winnings and keep playing with their money. End result no advantage TAB.

Still will have 530 staff.

What about the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI)?! 3,000 Employees. $300m yearly salary bill! Yes that's an average of $100,000!

Once again thank you for your comprehensive response. I know there is no takeout rate on Fixed Odds betting. What I do know is that there is a profit or loss on a book. We do know that the tote is more profitable than fixed odds in terms of revenue. The revenue i.e. profit from fixed odds BEFORE costs is substantially less than the tote. From what we can with the minimal information that we are now getting is that bonus bets haven't done anything to improve the fixed odds profitability. As Mardigras points out NZRB/RITA's betting product management is fixated on turnover NOT revenue.

Thanks for your detailed and well thought out reply. I used an average takeout rate NOT specifically a tote takeout. At the end of the day someone pays. The only way the TAB wins is if those that get the bonus bets are perpetual losers and because of the incentive bet more than they would normally. No one has yet showed how they make a profit out of the promotions.

Yes but they may still need to anchor off shore.

Ok. Just shows you don't need to do much to keep them fit enough to be a couple of weeks away from a jump out! Take note Huey.

Funded by the Wellington City Council ratepayer and the Greater Wellington Regional Council which is funded by the Wellington City Council which is funded by their ratepayers...... But it isn't all bad....one of their successes from their annual report is securing "The World Crustacean Conference in 2022 of 200 delegates." I hope they aren't arriving by sea.

I didn't realise that there were exemptions to the NZTR/MPI protocol? Obviously safer to work on your "home" track than the "public" track next door.

The big difference is Freda that their financials look better than ours in terms of ratios like debt to assets! They are an incorporated public listed company and have statutory reporting obligations. They produced a half yearly report for the half year to the end of January 2020 yesterday. PHUMELELA_int_jan20.pdf

Can you read an annual report? The costs they are talking about reducing are peanuts in the overall scheme of things. Does radio trackside really cost that much to broadcast? They are simulcasting the TV audio so they haven't saved any broadcast costs other than staff.... Well they haven't really done that even - one would think that Radio Trackside staff were on the payroll and the Covid-19 staff has been claimed for them so they are still paying 80% of their salaries anyway! Smoke and mirrors! What about the BS that they are saving costs by racing only at courses that have "optic fibre" installed? That's none other than a red herring to justify the hidden agenda of closing down clubs that are not part of the master plan.