ONE MORE THING: IT LOOKS like a case of winner all right for the Irish Greyhound Board this week after it inked a two-year deal with UK-based specialist broadcaster Satellite Information Services (SIS) for worldwide picture and betting data rights from Shelbourne Park.

The semi-State wouldn’t confirm the value of the contract but industry sources have put it at more than €500,000 over the two years, plus a share of betting revenue if it goes over a certain level.

This is a chunky sum for the board when you consider its annual operating surplus is about €2 million and the profit from tote betting is about €3 million.

Chief executive Adrian Neilan described the deal as a “potential game changer” for the company. “It exposes our content to potential customers worldwide and could be significantly lucrative for us. People will bet if the content is available to them.”

If the Shelbourne Park deal works out, Neilan hopes it could be extended to some of the other eight tracks that it owns and operates. “If we could fill in the other days of the week, that’s where it would become very interesting for us.”

Other countries, particularly in eastern Europe, are also looking at establishing greyhound racing and Neilan hopes the SIS deal will put Ireland on the map and establish the board as a potential adviser for such start-ups.

Getting Irish punters through the turnstiles is still the board’s bread and butter and Neilan had some positive news to report on that front.

“We’ve taken 25,000 bookings for Christmas ,” he said. “That’s higher than last year and on a par with 2009. We are thrilled by that.”

Overall, attendances are up about 4 to 5 per cent this year, helped by the absence of snow and the impact of a full year of trading from its new stadium in Limerick.

“We’ve had to change our marketing approach. We’re doing a lot more through online media to reach out to customers. People still want a night out and what we’ve found is that a lot of sporting clubs who are constrained for funding are using our tracks as a fundraising option.”

“We’re a semi-State and it’s all about driving down costs, being efficient and offering the best value that we can. We’re holding our own. Hopefully we won’t get any snow . . . that’s a killer for us.”