Second choice no problem for V'landys
Date
September 6, 2012 - 2:31PM
Greg Prichard
RACING industry insiders say Peter V’landys would not be fazed by the fact someone had already been offered and rejected the job as ARLC chief executive if he was interested in the role.
The league commission is taking a breath after it emerged on Tuesday that Gillon McLachlan, Andrew Demetriou’s deputy at the AFL, had knocked back the job. But the process of filling the role is expected to speed up again next week.
V’landys, the chief executive of Racing NSW, has refused to comment on speculation he was in the running for the ARLC job, but he remains on the league’s shortlist of contenders.
There have been suggestions that those who were understood to be contenders for the job would not want it now that it was clear they would have been second pick behind McLachlan, but those more familiar with the workings of the corporate world describe that as rubbish.
A highly placed source within the racing industry told the Herald yesterday: ‘‘That sort of thing happens all the time in business, people not being the first choice but still accepting the job. It’s about whether you want the job and whether you think you would be good at it, and the person who takes the job often works out to be the better choice in the end anyway.’’
‘‘If they offered V’landys the job and he was interested in it, he’s not the type of person who would be bothered by the knowledge someone else had already knocked it back. The way he has operated, within the racing industry, is by assessing situations and meeting them head-on, with a plan of action. He’s a seasoned campaigner who would trust in his own ability to get the job done.’’
Another insider said the racing industry was nervous about the thought of V’landys possibly being headhunted by the ARLC.
‘‘I don’t know what the league is thinking or what V’landys is thinking, but there is a lot of concern within the racing industry at the thought that he could go,’’ the insider said. ‘‘They wouldn’t want to lose him.’’
If the ARLC did appoint V’landys, it wouldn’t be a popular decision with corporate bookmakers who have been lobbying the league to adopt a percentage of gross profit as its revenue model from gambling. The corporates are strongly opposed to the other suggested model, a percentage of turnover.
V’landys was the driving force behind the legal challenge that led to a High Court decision in March forcing the corporates to pay a 1.5 per cent fee on turnover to Racing NSW. The decision immediately released $100 million that had been held in trust during the court process, with a predicted windfall for racing of $1 billion over the next 15 years.
Sportsbet.com.au chairman Matthew Tripp last month told the Herald a turnover tax would make betting on league a losing product for the corporates because ‘‘it’s a low-margin business, sport, in comparison to racing’’.
He said his agency wouldn’t be able to absorb the extra cost without making league odds less attractive, and said up to $30 million spent annually on league sponsorship and advertising by the corporates would be put at risk.
The racing industry, in the wake of its own court victory, has urged the league to adopt the turnover fee model as well. The league has listened to all of the arguments, and its media and communications director, John Brady, last month told the Herald it had called for independent reviews of gambling revenue models for the commission to consider before making a decision.
