1/ST to offer parimutuel wagering on NASCAR races
1/ST Technology, a division of Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park parent company 1/ST Racing and Gaming, will offer parimutuel betting on NASCAR events under an agreement to make 1/ST the exclusive parimutuel wagering partner of the stock car racing organization.
The launch of parimutuel betting on a sport other than horse or dog racing represents a milestone of sorts in the U.S., where wagering on sports is typically offered through fixed-odds markets. Under the parimutuel system, all bets are pooled, with the administrator of the pool taking a cut off the top before payouts are distributed according to the amount of winning wagers in the pool.
In a release, 1/ST said that the parimutuel pools on NASCAR events will be offered “across web, mobile app, digital channels, and retail or event locations in eligible jurisdictions.”
Sports wagering has exploded in the U.S. since the Supreme Court in 2018 ruled that states could approve the practice. Keith Johnson, the president of 1/ST Technologies, said in an interview on Thursday that the company has begun preparing applications to state regulatory agencies to get approval for the betting.
“We’ve got a list of the states that we think would be willing to go ahead with this, and then we’re also looking at market size,” Johnson said.
1/ST Technologies will also need to strike agreements with mobile sports betting operators and brick-and-mortar sportsbooks to offer parimutuel wagering to their customers, Johnson said. Under the NASCAR agreement, 1/ST Technologies will only be operating the back end of the business, rather than developing its own application or offering parimutuel NASCAR betting through its existing horse-racing ADW, Xpressbet.
NASCAR races typically feature 36 cars, though the number can go as high as 40. That would offer a rich menu of possibilities in parimutuel wagering pools, where available bets can run from win, place, and show to exactas, trifectas, and superfectas – as well as multi-race bets.
According to Johnson, the vast majority of fixed-odds bets currently made on NASCAR races are win bets. Johnson said that the company is hoping to expand the offerings to multi-race bets and expects to offer in-race pools that open and close within a manner of minutes.
“There’s a lot we can offer both pre-event and/or in-running that don’t lend themselves to fixed-odds markets very well,” Johnson said.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.