Glenda wants to spend our 90 million

[Midget 4,489]

This is what Glenda and John Allen want to spend YOUR 90 million on.

This is their defiant monument to themselves.

You'll all be paying for this for the rest of your lives.

 

http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nyx-gaming-group-partners-with-new-zealand-racing-board-611625745.html

 

[Leggy 4,076]

Where does this 90mil figure come from? The SOI has a budgeted capital cost of 29-35 mil for the FOB platform project. Surely they haven't overrun that by 3 times?

And it's supposed to increase profit by $17-19m p.a.. That would surely be a good thing?

[Midget 4,489]

The 90 million is from multi sources including John Allen who stated as much when discussing a 1000 simultaneous betting option platform ( surely you heard that at the road show ?) and it's what this crisis meeting Sunday is primarily about, along with the opposition to the Paddy Power deal.

I did think he said 70 mill myself but I've been corrected now numerous times by multiple sources who're at the heart of this, and they're far better connected than me so I'm going with 90.

[Insider 3,947]

What about the antiquated Jetbet tote system that breaks down just about ever time there is a major race meeting? Does this investment include the replacement of it to or is that a totally different subject. What about all the half broken down terminals that used oncourse, are they included?

If the answer is no to the above questions how much more is needed to replace all of that as everything pertaining to the Jetbet system is many years passed it's use by date and held together with Band Aids as we all know. 

[Berri 2,131]

I raced 90

[rdytdy 5,341]

3 hours ago, Leggy said:

 

And it's supposed to increase profit by $17-19m p.a.. That would surely be a good thing?

 

If the figures are correct in that article (it would pay for itself within five years) and I assume it would also lead to significant employee reduction numbers adding further savings, is Leggy right?  

 

[Guest 2Admin2]

10 minutes ago, rdytdy said:

 

If the figures are correct in that article (it would pay for itself within five years) and I assume it would also lead to significant employee reduction numbers adding further savings, is Leggy right?  

 

Since when have the NZRB, or NZTR for that matter, been accurate in their financial projections?

[Midget 4,489]

The alternatives according to my impeccable sources are;

1) outsource to Tabcorp, get a $100 million cheque, pay out $50 mill in redundancies, reduce staff numbers by ??? % reduce retail footprint by ??? There are precedents for this and staff numbers have been reduced by up to 70% allegedly.

2) enter into an agreement with Paddy Power to do our F/O betting, a one off payment of 10 million.

3) develop our own 1000 option F/O platform at a cost of 90 million, increase staff numbers, increase retail footprint, and ( I haven't seen it but I'm assured it exists ) then your tote punters migrate to the new F/O sports platform, racing betting decreases, and at some time in the future the Racing Act is changed with the stroke of a pen by the Greens or similar, sports then get every cent they earn rather than the current fixed fee agreements, and racing is as good as finished in NZ.

4) let Petone get fatter and fatter, build bloated monuments to themselves while those who put on the show are starved into oblivion.

[Leggy 4,076]

3 hours ago, Midget said:

The 90 million is from multi sources including John Allen who stated as much when discussing a 1000 simultaneous betting option platform ( surely you heard that at the road show ?) and it's what this crisis meeting Sunday is primarily about, along with the opposition to the Paddy Power deal.

I did think he said 70 mill myself but I've been corrected now numerous times by multiple sources who're at the heart of this, and they're far better connected than me so I'm going with 90.

From memory, the figure was 70mil and that was for the implementation of all 4 key strategies. That would be consistent the 60-75m estimate in the SOI. I've never seen or heard mention of 90m except on here. I hope the convenors of Sunday's meeting have their figures correct, whatever they are going to complain about.

 

 

[Leggy 4,076]

33 minutes ago, Midget said:

The alternatives according to my impeccable sources are;

1) outsource to Tabcorp, get a $100 million cheque, pay out $50 mill in redundancies, reduce staff numbers by ??? % reduce retail footprint by ??? There are precedents for this and staff numbers have been reduced by up to 70% allegedly.

2) enter into an agreement with Paddy Power to do our F/O betting, a one off payment of 10 million.

3) develop our own 1000 option F/O platform at a cost of 90 million, increase staff numbers, increase retail footprint, and ( I haven't seen it but I'm assured it exists ) then your tote punters migrate to the new F/O sports platform, racing betting decreases, and at some time in the future the Racing Act is changed with the stroke of a pen by the Greens or similar, sports then get every cent they earn rather than the current fixed fee agreements, and racing is as good as finished in NZ.

4) let Petone get fatter and fatter, build bloated monuments to themselves while those who put on the show are starved into oblivion.

Those other options are surely now redundant with the FO agreement signed and sealed are they not?

[SMD is rife 211]

1 hour ago, Midget said:

The alternatives according to my impeccable sources are;

1) outsource to Tabcorp, get a $100 million cheque, pay out $50 mill in redundancies, reduce staff numbers by ??? % reduce retail footprint by ??? There are precedents for this and staff numbers have been reduced by up to 70% allegedly.

2) enter into an agreement with Paddy Power to do our F/O betting, a one off payment of 10 million.

3) develop our own 1000 option F/O platform at a cost of 90 million, increase staff numbers, increase retail footprint, and ( I haven't seen it but I'm assured it exists ) then your tote punters migrate to the new F/O sports platform, racing betting decreases, and at some time in the future the Racing Act is changed with the stroke of a pen by the Greens or similar, sports then get every cent they earn rather than the current fixed fee agreements, and racing is as good as finished in NZ.

4) let Petone get fatter and fatter, build bloated monuments to themselves while those who put on the show are starved into oblivion.

do any of these alternatives provide a guarantee for Glen Saville to return to Australia with a big fat salary?

[Midget 4,489]

I'm assured they've allocated 50 million for redundancies if the Tabcorp deal eventuates so the answer is probably yes !!!

[chelseacol 2,488]

Just now, Midget said:

I'm assured they've allocated 50 million for redundancies if the Tabcorp deal eventuates so the answer is probably yes !!!

Redundancies are interesting - especially when you start talking big $ payouts.

Most employment contracts I see these days specifically say in the event of a redundancy there is no entitlement for the employee over and above the 4 week notice period.

Now we all know there are hoops to jump through when making anyone redundant - but done properly why would this cost be triggered?

Which leads you to believe the HR department employed at huge expense wrote contracts with redundancy provisions in them ???

[slam dunk 1,317]

THis latest indulgence by NZ racing board and Glenda is perhaps the stupedist of all far exceeding Stiassney's unresearched "merger" with Typhoon.

The simple fact there is no one on the Racing Board competent or savy with IT development not too mention gaming.

Given that NZRB is treading into Casino and lottery territory perhaps its time to investigate the combination of Racing Board and Lotteries Commision into one entity.

The Racing Board insults all New Zealanders by outsourcing to NYX who probably  themselves outsource to India. How many middle players do we need? No wonder there is nothing left at the end of the chain.

[Phantom 494]

This is just bloody sickening. It would actually be hilarious if the decisions these clowns are making were not so important to so many people's livelihoods. The problem is you could fit what Glenda Hughes and John Allen know about the gaming industry on the back of a postage stamp, yet they are both experts at corporate speak and at hiding their ignorance. I'd like to ask them both, why on earth would you consider paying an overseas company to manage your fixed odds operation when you already copy the odds almost to the cent of Paddy Power for pre-game markets and Bet365 for in play without paying them a cent. Presumably they KNOW that's how their fixed odds department operates. I've worked in the industry for more than 20 years now and I have NEVER heard of NYX. They sound like one of a million providers for on-line betting solutions, yet these are for small to medium "boutique books", not for a massive organisation like the TAB. Glenda's assertion that these guys are going to help the TAB become market leaders in the industry is ridiculous. The TAB will just be one more copy cat company that is indiscernable from hundreds of others. The market leaders in the gaming industry are managed by shrewd operators who have been working in the industry for years and years. That's who the TAB need calling the shots, not glib Glenda or Postman  Pat. I've put out some feelers to find out more about NYX, but to me it has all the hallmarks of the Typhoon deal, i,e not tested and examined by the right people before the deal was done. We've got to get rid of these people who have neither a rudimentary understanding of  the industry or any kind of passion for the racing industry, while there is still an industry left to try and save.

[gubellini 3,995]

Phantom good post. The problem is that if Glenda Hughes and John Allen depart their politically appointed replacements will be of the same ilk- no knowledge of racing or gaming. The TAB should have been floated on the Share market years ago and at least we would have had some accountability. Note that Tabcorp closed at A$4.75 today.

[We're Doomed 4,855]

What is this obsession with being "front of the market" to quote Glenda. All we really need is for them to do the basics right.

Surely Glenda and John would be the least racing knowledgeable and competent people to ever head the racing industry. Who was largely responsible for appointing them?

Say what you like about the Aussies, but over there both of those two would have been gone long ago.

[scooby3051 10,869]

16 minutes ago, We're Doomed said:

What is this obsession with being "front of the market" to quote Glenda. All we really need is for them to do the basics right.

Surely Glenda and John would be the least racing knowledgeable and competent people to ever head the racing industry. Who was largely responsible for appointing them?

Say what you like about the Aussies, but over there both of those two would have been gone long ago.

Thats why they are here... they gone down and down, now the industry is stuck with them. Fat cats ruining the industry as they have no idea.

[Trump 2,741]

The "front of the market" phrase is usually used by marketing companies and advertising agencies. It would be interesting to hear GH and JA answer questions from a "savvy" audience and from people who know what they are talking about and recognise "political spin" when they hear it. The meeting on Sunday will be very interesting - GH and JA may not even turn up!

[slam dunk 1,317]

Like Phantom i had never heard of nyx. Maybe my ignorance. I see they are listed on the NYSE however it seems a UK firm Open Bet is the crux of nyx. Seems just a loose arrangement where nyx can be made to look bigger than it is. Now the puzzling aspect is that nyx seems to trace back to an Aussie who used to be employed as some sort of betting inspector in the Northern Territory.  All these outfits have the same spin vocabulary describing how massive they are but at the end the reader is no wiser. All in all it looks murky as you would think they would have a simple history page. Bit like the journalist turned "internet guru" whose international sounding company had as its CEO a local business educator acting as mentor.

For a moment I thought there was some connection with Matt Davey and the Typhoon people and there could still be. Anything is possible. I query why there wasn't any announcement from NZRB.

[Phantom 494]

Ok. As promised, Here is the lowdown on NYX/Openbet from a friend who is in a senior management position in probably THE biggest US facing offshore book.

"We talked to them two years ago and they were talking US$1.6-1.8m for software. I have no idea what they are doing for the TAB, but $90 million cannot be a realistic number. $90 million would buy you a 1/4 share in William Hill and they would come and do it for free.

"It's just another case of a state betting agency gone mad in an area they have no clue about.

"I could have got them a deal for 40% of gross profit and no expenses and their customer base would also be a lot happier.

"I imagine their current net profit is not high." (he's right - in industry terms the TAB's fixed odds profit is embarrassing) . "

So much for their extensive tender process. They didn't even talk to these people, nor the industry leaders. Which begs the question who did they talk to? And why on earth would they authorise such a massive spend when clearly it is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy beyond the normal price for such an undertaking???

I wonder.

[We're Doomed 4,855]

You can almost see now when this all comes home to roost Glenda and John will say "Yes, we f..ked up, sorry about that, give us our golden handshake and we will go. Good luck fixing our mess".

[Phantom 494]

On 1/24/2017 at 2:54 PM, Leggy said:

Where does this 90mil figure come from? The SOI has a budgeted capital cost of 29-35 mil for the FOB platform project. Surely they haven't overrun that by 3 times?

And it's supposed to increase profit by $17-19m p.a.. That would surely be a good thing?

Mate, the TAB's fixed odds department is so poorly run and completely mismanaged, I reckon I could increase profit by $20m per a by implementing a handful of changes and introducing some basic systems which are accepted industry standards. It's not because I am a genius, either, just have a reasonable understanding of the industry and what's needed to generate maximum returns from your client base. It's not rocket science. And that's just the fixed odds department, these guys spend other people's money like it's going out of fashion. Let's have TWO TV channels which no one watches and ONE radio station which no one listens to. That makes sense. How about a tote system which no one else has bought (and which didn't work)? $7 million seems a fair price. A bet type which no one understands (Triple Trio). I could go on...

[chelseacol 2,488]

Very interesting posts Phantom

The post on software costs just has me shaking my head in disbelief at the apparent mismanagement going on.

I think this info being fed to the leaders of the meeting on Sunday is very important - "Midget" where are you ?

[rdytdy 5,341]

2 minutes ago, chelseacol said:

Very interesting posts Phantom

The post on software costs just has me shaking my head in disbelief at the apparent mismanagement going on.

I think this info being fed to the leaders of the meeting on Sunday is very important - "Midget" where are you ?

Midget has stated that he has not been invited to the meeting so won't be in attendance Col.

That said, I am sure that what posts are being placed here will no doubt be read by all the parties that are however, therefore any information such as from the likes of Phantom and others will indeed be taken on board.