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Discl: Held IRL 0.85% and in SM
Very nice deal announced today, amidst a sea of read ...!

From Wikipedia, LeoVegas is:
There were no numbers but key for me:

I can see how the deal makes sense to LeoVegas: (1) Sports Betting is ~13% of its revenue, but growing at a fast clip, horse racing will be a further fraction of that - not big but not small either (2) RTH has the data products and the MTS expertise for LeoVegas to farm these out, possibly saving them cost.
It is also further evidence of RTH’s strategy playing out nicely - Data, Data Analytics, then MTS ...
Chart Review
Share price was relative muted amidst a not-great day for tech stocks. News of the deal must have leaked as RTH has moved a good ~20% in the past week ahead of the deal.
Bit of heat in the price now. Staying above 1.235 will be a bit of a challenge I suspect, support should be good around 1.055 and any sideways consolidation between these ranges would be healthy indeed.

Disc: Held IRL and in SM.
Included a Risk Table - there ARE absolutely risks to watch out for!
THE MOAT
MANY WAYS TO WIN
FINANCIALS

RISKS

TRIGGERS FOR EXIT
POSITION SIZE
3.0 to 3.5% over time
CHART POSITION, ENTRY POINTS
RTH’s share price is slightly below the mid-point between its all time high of 1.84 on 25 Nov 2021, just post listing, and its all-time low of 0.37 on 2 May 2023.
It has also been hovering around to 50% retracement level at 0.975 from the last major rally from May 2023 to Sep 2024 - not a bad entry point
Ideal Buy zone is between 0.84 to 0.89 which is both a historical support/resistance area as well as the 61.8% retracement area
Have opened the position at 0.961 which is a decent entry point, but will continue to average down on weakness below this point when the opportunity presents

Final part of my notes on RTH, ahead of the much anticipated call!
Discl: Not Held
COMPANY PROFILE AND GLOBAL REACH
Racing and Sports (RAS) is a publicly listed (ASX: RTH) Australian company that offers integrated data, analytics, content, and wagering technology for the global racing and wagering sectors. It has been operating since 1999 and is headquartered in Canberra, with additional offices in Sri Lanka, the UK, New Zealand, and the United States.
They process data from over 1,000 racing centres across 30+ countries, spanning thoroughbred, harness, and greyhound racing.
SERVICES & CAPABILITIES
Enhanced Information Services: B2B solutions including premium analytics, predictive animations, infographics, and betting content delivered via APIs to operators and racing bodies worldwide.
Wagering Technology & Trading Platforms: Offers SaaS-based trading solutions (e.g., Trading Manager Platform) and fully managed trading services (MTS).
Digital & Media: Operates a content-rich website with 3+ million unique users annually and 60+ million page views, offering news, racecards, form guides, and digital advertising reach globally.
The Wholesale Data, Content & Distribution segment contributed to 64% of its revenue around its IPO in late 2021, highlighting its core strength in data services
CUSTOMER FOOTPRINT
RAS serves a diverse roster of prominent clients including major wagering operators and racing entities:
This underlines RAS’s credibility and presence across several key betting markets.
In the UK, RAS continues to gain market share in data and trading services, securing exclusive agreements — for example, as the sole racing data/trading provider for Pragmatic Play (servicing brands like DAZN Bet and Quinn Bet)
GLOBAL STANDING & MARKET POSITION
Extensive global coverage: With data from 30+ countries and over 1,000 venues, RAS has a strong breadth of form and racing data.
Prestigious clientele: The fact that they serve leading operators like Entain, Flutter, Bet365, and HKJC matches them with the top tier of racing data providers.
Expanding reach: Strategic wins (e.g. Pragmatic Play in the UK) and ARR growth indicate they’re competitively scaling in key betting jurisdictions. Acquired Hong Kong racing publications via Racing and Sports Asia (RASA), boosting regional presence in a high-growth (17%) APAC market
WHAT GIVES RTH THE EDGE OVER COMPETITORS
In that light, RAS is a leading global provider, especially for form analytics, digital content, and integrated wagering tech. While not as dominant as Equibase in the US or Timeform in the UK, RAS stands out through its holistic approach and growing client base.
Racing and Sports (ASX: RTH) is firmly positioned among the top global racing-data suppliers, with considerable scale, diverse services, and key client relationships. Their competitive edge is their integration of data, technology, and media — making them a serious player globally, especially for operators seeking comprehensive wagering and form solutions across multiple jurisdictions.
RTH’S CLOSEST COMPETITORS
RTH sits in the data, analytics, and wagering services niche, not the tote hardware business. Its direct competitors are other racing data, analytics, and pricing feed providers, rather than the big tote operators.
Racing and Sports competes most closely with Timeform, Equibase, and BetMakers in the data & content supply niche, while also differentiating itself by being independent + globally integrated.

Discl: Not Held, In Thesis Building Mode
Getting my head around the different Horse Racing technology platforms, the space which RTH's 2nd biggest and growing segment. Becoming clearer within the overall technology space, where RTH plays and does not play.
Types of Horse Racing Betting
This is important to understand to position RTH’s competitors in the Wagering Technology space and where RTH plays.
1. Tote Betting
Also referred to as parimutuel or pool betting, tote betting offers an alternative to fixed odds betting and as a result can yield massive dividends to the right wager.
Short for totalisator, a “tote” is a cumulative pool where all bets of the same type for an event or race are placed.
This pool is then divided among the winning bets, so the more money betted on a race, the bigger the tote, the bigger potential dividends.
Tote odds are determined by the amount of money placed on each outcome. Therefore, the outcomes that attract the most money will have the shortest odds, while the least supported wagers will return the highest dividends.
Tote odds are constantly fluctuating in accordance with the amount of money being wagered. As a result, final potential dividends are only known once the betting market has closed, which coincides with the start of the race.
Odds on any given result can change significantly from the time a bet is placed to the time betting closes. This is why some punters prefer fixed odds as they cannot change on you after you have placed your bet.
2. Fixed Odds
Unlike Tote bets, fixed odds are locked in once you place your bet. The value of fixed odds are set by the bookmaker, for example a horse can be $2.20 to win a race. Once you place money on that horse to win, your dividend will be your wager times the odds when you placed the bet.
Tote bets are different because the return will fluctuate based on the number of punters who have put money into the pool.
3. Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW)
"Advance deposit wagering" or "ADW" means a system of pari-mutuels wagering in which wagers and withdrawals are debited and winning payoffs and deposits are credited to an account held by an authorized ADW provider on behalf of an account holder
Advance-deposit wagering (ADW) is a form of gambling on the outcome of horse races in which bettors must fund their account before being allowed to place bets. ADW is often conducted online or by phone. t typically involves betting on horse or greyhound racing. Wagering may take place through parimutuel pools
WAGERING TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS
This is about the technology providers that power horse racing wagering platforms (not the bookmakers themselves, but the B2B companies supplying the tote systems, betting engines, digital platforms, and data integrations).

Discl: Not Held, In Thesis Building Mode
Continuing my notes:
F. LEADING BOOKMAKERS & BETTING GROUPS - GLOBAL REACH/TOTAL REVENUE
Here’s how the top horse-racing bookmakers and betting groups rank globally by overall revenue or reach — noting, however, that most operators aren’t breaking out horse-racing–specific figures separately.

These figures reflect overall betting revenue, not solely from horse racing. However, big operators like Flutter, Bet365, Entain, and William Hill derive a meaningful portion of their activities from horse-racing markets (fixed odds, pools, exchanges, broadcast partnerships).
Horse racing remains especially significant in regions like the UK, Australia, and the U.S., where bookmakers typically highlight these events with live streaming, commingled pools, and special markets
1. Flutter Entertainment
Overview: The world’s largest online betting company. In 2023, total revenue reached $11.8 billion. This includes horse-racing exposure via brands like Betfair, Paddy Power, and FanDuel. (TIME)
Notable Expansion: Flutter acquired stakes in Brazil’s NSX Group and Italy’s Snaitech—underscoring its global footprint. (MarketWatch, Reuters)
Leads by a wide margin as the largest global betting company, with extensive horse-racing operations embedded across its brands.
2. Bet365
Overview: One of the most profitable betting companies globally. For fiscal year ending March 2024, group revenue was £3.72 billion (~$4.65 billion). (Betting US, iGB, gamblinginsider.com, SBC Americas)
Context: Though not as large as Flutter, Bet365’s sheer scale rivals top-tier operators.
Powerful standalone operator with strong horse-racing integration and broadcast rights, particularly in the UK and increasingly in the U.S.
3. Entain Group (Paddy Power/Ladbrokes / Coral)
Overview: Major bookmaker with global presence and strong horse-racing offerings. While not stated here, it’s regularly listed among the industry's top five. (Betting & Gaming Council)
Holds a top-three position globally, with major racing wagers running through its brands.
4. William Hill (now part of 888)**
Overview: In 2023, revenue was around £1.2 billion (~$1.5 billion). (iGaming Express, Covers.com)
Horse-Racing Exposure: Historically, horse-racing accounted for about £1.4 billion in turnover back in 2017. (Andrew Cetnarskyj)
Smaller but still a major force, especially in UK racing cycles
5. Other Noteworthy Players
Betfair / FanDuel (part of Flutter but notable on their own): Betfair Group’s standalone revenue is estimated at £340 million historically, while current numbers are embedded within Flutter’s results. (Tracxn, bloodhorse.com)
Crypto Operators (e.g., Stake): Not traditional bookmakers, yet emerging players like Stake reported $4.7 billion GGR in 2024. (Financial Times)
Emerging players like crypto-based operators are starting to shift the competitive landscape, although their horse-racing penetration remains limited.
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Have circled RTH's existing customer which are highlighted above. Its a decent overlap, which gives me confidence that RTH is indeed playing with the Tier-1's, particularly Flutter, Bet365 and Entain, the Top 3.

G. GLOBAL HORSE RACING DATA & CONTENT PROVIDERS
This is RTH's biggest segment.
“Data & Content” here covers official entries/results/past-performances, live video/simulcast, live odds/price feeds, trading/odds engines and editorial/form/rating services.

No clean global market-share number is publicly published. Providers report customers, volumes (events/day, data points) or revenue segments — but they rarely publish a standardized “% of global racing data market” figure. Market share must therefore be inferred from: (a) official status in jurisdictions (e.g., Equibase in US; JRA in Japan; PMU in France), (b) customer counts and geographic coverage (e.g., SIS claims ~400 customers in 50 countries), and (c) commercial footprints of sportsbook platform vendors (Betgenius, Sportradar, Kambi/OpenBet) in operator technology stacks. (SIS, Equibase, Timeform).
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Each of the main horse racing jurisdictions has its own clear owner of data. And from @mushroompanda 's diagram, we know that RTH ingests data from these governing bodies as one of its inputs into the RTH Data & Analytics that RTH eventually publishes to its customers.
The 3 questions in my mind that I would want to ask management around this topic:
The answers are not immediately clear to me ... this is quite key to gain an understanding off, as I think this will provide insights on the moat and the strength of the moat. It will also allow for an assessment of risks around customer concentration.
I have started a deep dive into RTH following the brilliant writeups from @mushroompanda and @Wini .
The thing I am focused on most is working out RTH's moat and the strength of that moat. I like the moat of my companies to be such that the broader industry has to depend on what my companies supply to operate so that once in, the keys get thrown way and customers are highly and as completely dependent as possible - muahahaha-like ...... SDR, AIM, XRF, CAT, C79 are my core holdings from this perspective.
I am still working out exactly what RTH's moat is. Currently, I see this as "essential service provider to the horse racing industry".
Hence the deeper dive into the broader horse racing industry to work out how and where RTH plays. The following is what I have found via ChatGPT. Have not validated every point, but have asked the question from multiple angles and the same answers emerge ... Am going from big picture, then narrowing down to key players, RTH's offerings and RTH's positioning.
I have very little understanding of the gaming, waging and horse racing industry, so this was/is a highly insightful exercise to gain a better understanding.
Will post in parts to make each post manageable as I work through each part.
A. MAJOR HORSE RACING JURISDICTIONS (Ranked by Global Importance)
Horse racing is highly regional, and the “major jurisdictions” are usually ranked by betting turnover, prestige of races, and international reach. Here’s a breakdown of the leading jurisdictions:
1. United Kingdom & Ireland
2. Japan
3. Australia
4. Hong Kong
5. United States
6. France
7. Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain)
8. Singapore (declining)
9. Other Notable Regions
Ranking Summary (by Turnover & Influence)
So: Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, UK/Ireland, and the U.S. are the “Big Five” racing jurisdictions that dominate by turnover, prestige, and global reach.
B. KEY INDUSTRY REVENUE DRIVERS
Betting turnover / pari-mutuel pools — on-course and (increasingly) off-course/mobile wagering is the single largest cashflow for racing ecosystems; commingling / world-pooling increases liquidity and revenue. (Example: major racing authorities report tens of billions in annual turnover). (corporate.hkjc.com, Horse Racing in Japan)
Takeout / commission / GGR — operators and race authorities keep a percentage (takeout) from stakes; variations in tax and takeout policy substantially affect industry economics.
Broadcasting & streaming rights — live race feeds and race-day video feed licensing (to bookmakers, streaming platforms, media) are a growing revenue line.
Data & analytics licensing — selling live feeds, historical data, form, ratings, odds feeds and APIs to operators, tipsters, exchanges and media.
Sponsorship, hospitality & first-day/event income — marquee races (Derby, Melbourne Cup, Dubai World Cup, Breeders’ Cup) generate ticketing and sponsor revenue.
Ancillary tech & services — trading/odds engines, pools management, integrity/ADIS services, virtual/virtualisation products (e.g., virtual racing, simulcasting) and now NFTs/metaverse experiments.
C. SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY
Market-size estimates vary widely depending on scope (just wagering? include breeding/prize money? hospitality? global GDP impact?). Selected published estimates show the variance: some industry reports place the global horse-racing market in the low hundreds of billions USD (e.g., ~USD 430–490B range for mid-2020s in some market reports), while others show larger or faster growth projections depending on inclusion of related segments and aggressive CAGR assumptions. Expect large but methodological variance between providers — use specific definitions for precise planning. (deepmarketinsights.com, Dataintelo)
Quick takeaway: wagering/GGR is the biggest single measurable line; national turnovers like JRA and HKJC are telling indicators because a few jurisdictions account for a large share of global racing handle.) (corporate.hkjc.com, Horse Racing in Japan)
D. MAJOR BETTING/RACING PLAYERS WHO ACTUALLY DRIVE TURNOVER
Racing authorities & public operators (often among the largest single-jurisdiction turnovers):
Private/global bookmakers & betting groups who take significant horse racing handle: Flutter (Paddy Power/Betfair), Entain, Bet365, Caesars/William Hill, FanDuel (via its sportsbook brands), BetMGM — these companies use horse content to drive engagement across sportsbooks (fixed-odds + exchanges + pools).
Specialist pools/retail ecosystems — many jurisdictions retain national monopolies or dominant pools (eg PMU in France, Tabcorp in parts of Australia, HKJC in Hong Kong). (SBC News)
E. TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY TRENDS TO WATCH
Commingled world pools & simulcasting — increases liquidity for big races and lets smaller jurisdictions plug into global turnover (HKJC/World Pool model). (corporate.hkjc.com)
Streaming + in-bet live video — operators paying for high-quality feeds; data+video sold as a bundle.
B2B trading & odds automation (AI/ML for pricing, liability management) — reduces margin leakage and improves margins on live betting.
Integrity tech — demand for real-time monitoring, geo-fencing, anti-fraud and betting-integrity solutions is rising.
Virtual & NFT experiments (ZED RUN and similar) — new fan engagement products and secondary markets, though niche vs. core wagering. (Axios)
What this means if you’re a vendor / investor
Sell liquidity + content: the best commercial propositions bundle live video + reliable data + commingling options. (Operators prioritize liquidity and reliable odds.) (corporate.hkjc.com)
Regulatory & tax regimes matter: jurisdictions’ takeout, taxes and legal framing (pari-mutuel vs fixed-odds) materially alter market opportunity. (See France, India local issues.) (BloodHorse, The Times of India)
Platform reliability & scalability are table stakes — big events and pools generate huge transaction spikes (OpenBet, Kambi cited as scale-capable platforms). (Wikipedia, Kambi)
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