Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) is yet another land-based stalwart that is thanking the online gambling industry. Since diversifying onto the computer screen CDI has gone from strength-to-strength and meant them not having to rely so heavily on horse racing events. Second quarter online revenue was up to $46.5million an increase of 56% on the same quarter last year. The only anomaly here is that their Youbet.com site was only a month old when the results came out last year. This year the site had a full three months during which to tally up the revenues.
CDI hasn’t turned its back on the old stalwarts of the Kentucky Derby and Oaks. They played a vital role in contributing towards the revenue of $249.7m. Racing revenue brought in $148.2m – a slight increase on last year’s figure of $147.4m. Net income for the company also had a stratospheric rise of 45% to $40.7m from $19m the year before.
One company not turning its back on Blackberry is Paddy Power who has launched a mobile service tailored especially to owners of the Research in Motion (RIM) devices. It’s a latecomer to Paddy Power’s mobile offering although it now means that Blackberry users can get around the site more quickly and easily than they’d been able to before. Powered by mobenga, Sylvie McDermott explained that Blackberry users had been demanding the service for some time, “especially in the UK where it is the smartphone of choice.” It’s undoubtedly popular in the UK. The smartphone of choice? We think Steve might have something to say about that.
