Our first trend is that of online gambling. This is a trend that is extremely topical and is also extremely relevant to the Sports, Entertainment, and Event Management industry. In particular relation to the Sport and Entertainment industry, there is plenty of betting in sports from both fans and the athletes themselves. As a group we have decided that this trend is primarily economic, but secondary a Sports and Entertainment trend. The two articles we have chosen focus on the recent legislation for a U.S ban on Internet gambling singed Friday 13, 2006. The exact ruling is to ban financial payments to offshore accounts and websites. The reason we choose these two articles because it is a significant change that has occurred recently. Also it heavily affects the SEE industry as many of the bets were placed on sports. We also thought the fantasy waging was interesting and how that relates to bets with actual money.
On October 13, 2006 it was announced that British betting company Sportingbet has sold its U.S operations to an Antigua based company for $1. The move came just hours before the U.S ban on internet gambling recently signed by President Bush. Although it seems ridiculous to sell U.S operations so cheaply it has allowed the company to offload $13.2 million of debt and save the company $14 million on shutting down expense.
The second article we choose as a group was written on October 19, 2006 and is about fantasy wagering websites and is entitled Not So Risky Business. We think this article ties in very nicely with our first because it gives the American consumer a new no risk option. The websites work the same way as regular gambling sites, but no money changes hands. Pickspal.com allows it members to challenge others to wagers on sporting events with the winner collecting points. These points can be later redeemed for prizes such as Plasma TV’s and iPods. This fantasy gambling continues to exist because there is a loophole in federal legislation if there is no actual money involved. Sites such as pickspal.com allow users to gain information they can then use for real bets with offshore sites.
We think this trend and these articles are fairly well related to the Strategic management process. We think that this especially relates to the first article on Sportingbet. In the planning stage as they have made a quick decision to pull out of the U.S market. If such quick decisions were not made they would have been left with huge debt and expense to shut down. Our second article also relates to the Strategic management process in a similar way because they are taking advantage of a loophole to ensure these sites remain open.
Work Cited
Booby White ‘Not So Risky Business’ Wall Street Journal October 19, 2006.
Henry J. Pulizzi “Sportingbet Sells U.S Operations for $1” Wall Street Journal October 13, 2006
