“In terms of what I can bring, I’ve been working in horse racing and betting for about 25 years, so I do have a good insight into how it’s quite a complex industry with lots of stakeholders and internal disputes,” Zeffman says.
“Equally, I’ve acted for lots of gambling companies over the last 25 years, so I’ve seen things from both sides of the fence.
“That actually coincides with data becoming a big thing for bookmakers over the last 20 years or so. That’s really in conjunction with the rise of smartphones and live in-play betting, which is very reliant on fast and accurate data.
“Because I’ve been involved in the sector for a long time, I inevitably know most of the players.”
How does racing catch-up?
In simple terms, this all boils down to catching what is by far the most popular betting product, football. As Zeffman notes, racing has to up its game.
With the right personnel in place to help drive Racing and Sports to the next level, glances are cast to the future and how best to capitalise on the commercial potential of the sport.
“Commercially, from our point of view, it’s focusing on our own house and what we can build to unlock revenues for customers and clients around the world,” Kelliher comments.
“It means building more engaging and entertaining products that talk to the younger emerging audience of the world that maybe haven’t grown up around horse racing betting.”
Furthermore, it is highlighted as essential to work alongside those that got the sports to where it is today, understanding where the company sits on a product level and utilise the experience possessed to scale these opportunities.
“Where Racing and Sports sit, we don’t have a direct impact on the rights holder commercial element,” Kelliher adds.
“From my point of view, it’s about focusing on what products we can build, that talk to the right audiences and unlock a better experience for the gambling firms that we deal with.”
Building on this, Zeffman discloses that there’s one truth that it would be “foolish” to not acknowledge when looking at the optimum strategies to be deployed to drive racing forward.
This, he says, centres around the fact that a number of challenges are being faced on a global basis for a whole host of reasons, with affordability tests and taxation singled out for the UK market.
“That means there’s all the more reason to try and find products that will enable bookmakers to engage better with their customers,” he continues.
“I’ve been a horse racing punter since I was well underage, and if you look at the horse race betting demographic it’s a bit old. There is a need to try and engage a younger audience.”
A footballing inspiration
As the undoubted dominance of football from a spectator and betting product point of view rears its head once again, Kelliher reiterates the necessity of what lessons racing can take in terms of what’s engaging fans.
“We’ve seen a shift,” he explains, “If we went back 20 years, you couldn’t place a bet on a team to win and, and a player to score first because it was called a correlation bet. Now the models allow for you to do that.
“In racing, everything was win only or each way. In the UK our job as a business is to build products that audiences are familiar with, but have a racing angle.
“What does that mean for us? Building bet builders and race multis that people are familiar with in the football world, and allowing an easy transition for the operator to cross sell these opportunities to their customer base through familiarity of the product.”
With three core business streams comprising Racing and Sports’ make up, the necessity of making more intuitive, fun products which are engaging to a younger audience has never been more important.
“We want to grow all revenue streams, but ultimately it just comes down to building the right products and listening to our audience,” Kelliher concludes.
“I think the success of the business from three people in the UK three years ago to 13 now, to bringing people like David in, we’ll continue to go from strength to strength.”
Dingnews.com 27/04/2026