Not enough surfers are going to the dogs

NEWS Despite continued growth in the online gambling market one major player, operated by Wembley plc, has announced it is to scrap its betting venture. 24dogs.com, which offered webcasts and betting on live greyhound races has pulled the plug amid fears it could not turn in a profit. The site will drop the webcasts in favour of trying to sell its broadcast rights to third parties. In a statement released on Monday the company said: "In the current format, the business was unlikely to achieve a profitable status." While other bookies were getting fat on the proceeds of the World Cup Wembley plc claimed "the early opening of pubs and the live televising of World Cup matches during the early morning and lunchtime periods, resulted in a considerable diversion of leisure spend away from our tracks during June" - a factor that will have dented the online offering as well. UK bookies offering multiple markets - including greyhound racing as well as the summer's big money spinners, football and horse racing - boasted revenues of around £200m during the World Cup period.