GMA unit, MJCI team up to expand horse racing reach

MANILA, Philippines - Media solutions provider GMA New Media Inc. (NMI) and horse racing operator Manila Jockey Club Inc. (MJCI) have entered into a partnership that will allow the latter to expand the reach of horse racing, creating a joint venture company for this purpose.

The joint venture company will be engaged in the business of providing technology and related services for sports and recreational gaming, propagating the gaming experience through multiple platforms such as television, radio, mobile, web and other technologies, and developing derivatives-based games.

NMI, a subsidiary of GMA Network, and MJCI, Asia’s oldest horse-racing club, will invest P10 million each into the new venture.

NMI president and chief operating officer Judd Gallares said that they will provide the technology needed to make horse-race betting available over the Internet and mobile phones.

For his part, MJCI executive vice president and COO Alfonso Reyno III said the firm entered into a joint venture with NMI “to upgrade the leisure it provides to people.”

Reyno said MJCI will provide not only traditional ways to bet but “improve its service by allowing people to place bets via Internet and cellphones.”

People can begin betting via these new platforms in middle of this year, according to Gallares.

During the signing of the memorandum of understanding last Friday, GMA Network chairman and chief executive officer Felipe Gozon said infusing technology will make bettors feel the convenience in betting on horse-racing games.

He said options to bet on horse-racing games have exploded due to the present advances in technology such as “mobile productivity, Internet and multimedia tools.”