Astana & Unibet.com

Brendo said:

to. Do we accept a Winfield Blue team in the Tour Down Under if they
tick the boxes and hand over the peso's?

Brendo

I so want a Winfield Blue jersey now, that would be hilarious!

PiledHigher said:

I so want a Winfield Blue jersey now, that would be hilarious!

Even better would be one that looks like an official jersey, but with alternate words, like the old ads "Winfield takes the wind out of your sails".

I remember someone wearing a windcheater with a Ford logo, except
the last letter was a 'k'. You didn't notice immediately.

ghostgum said:

Even better would be one that looks like an official jersey, but with alternate words, like the old ads "Winfield takes the wind out of your sails".

I remember someone wearing a windcheater with a Ford logo, except
the last letter was a 'k'. You didn't notice immediately.

Getting off the topic again a bit, but in the latest Bicycling Australia, they report on Wesley Salzburger's (sp?) family. Wes is seen in a photo wearing a Nike shirt except it says "Pike" (with the Nike tick and all) - then below it it says "Just do nothing". I like it. I want one.

jazmo said:

Getting off the topic again a bit, but in the latest Bicycling Australia, they report on Wesley Salzburger's (sp?) family. Wes is seen in a photo wearing a Nike shirt except it says "Pike" (with the Nike tick and all) - then below it it says "Just do nothing". I like it. I want one.

There was a "Dike" version too, remember seeing that on a episode of Frontline years ago. 😉

cfsmtb said:

There was a "Dike" version too, remember seeing that on a episode of Frontline years ago. 😉

hmmm ....I'll leave that one...

now on Unibet, I read back a piece, and will try and find the source...that Unibet did examine their position and felt that EC law permitted them to operate in all the member countries, and that it was French Law that has the issue, (and Belgian) ( even though France recently levied a suspended prison sentence for allowing Unibet to ride with full jerseys in a stage of Etoile de Bessèges on the organiser (& he, Rolland Fangille was also fined 4,500 Euros)...

I was sure the rationale behind them sponsoring the Team was to bring this to a head and force the issue once and for all.... both the french national Lottery (FdeJ) and the Belgian national Lottery (Lotto) have commenced proceedings against Unibet too, so it is going to be major bun fight...

Whenever big bucks are involved you can always rely on the little guy ( in this case the riders) getting sandwiched in the fight....

all three players have Pro Tour Cycling cycling teams, and the clout & strength of advertising and popular awarenss of brands through pro Tour Cycling is a convenient battlefield for them...

so is it another scandal...call it "[font=Courier New]Opertion PuertoLotto[/font] "?... is it a hoodwinck?....I think all three companies should be banned from having their racing in normal Team jerseys and instead....have to wear a ?, an ! and an*, until the EC makes a decision on it, as all three teams are guilty of exploiting the public's perception of fun and freedom by imposing onerous opportunity to be stripped of savings and earnings... is this that much different than drug use in sport to obtain an advantage over some one....?, and as they committed to the teams have to pay them for the full contract payments ....

( you can see I'm not a fan of gambling exploitation)

On 2007-03-07, PiledHigher (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Brendo said:

to. Do we accept a Winfield Blue team in the Tour Down Under if they
tick the boxes and hand over the peso's?

I so want a Winfield Blue jersey now, that would be hilarious!

Imagine that flanny jersey that several denizens own here (off Ebay,
IIRC), with a Winne Blues logo?

--
TimC
Error: Fuzzy Pointer Exception

there is a good summary of Unibet's position here:

tinyurl.com2r3t9zOpen ↗

On Mar 8, 8:50 am, rooman <rooman.2n3...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

there is a good summary of Unibet's position here:

http://tinyurl.com/2r3t9z

--
rooman

So Astana wasn't invited because they had not received their ProTour
licence before December 12 2006. That's one question answered.

Unibet is frowned upon because they are international, I presume,
whereas FdJ and Lotto are only national, ie you can't take part in the
Belgian lotto if you live in France.

Brendo

On Mar 7, 8:37 pm, TimC <[email hidden]-

astro.swin.edu.au said:

On 2007-03-07, PiledHigher (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Brendo said:

to. Do we accept a Winfield Blue team in the Tour Down Under if they
tick the boxes and hand over the peso's?

Quoted message said:

I so want a Winfield Blue jersey now, that would be hilarious!

Imagine that flanny jersey that several denizens own here (off Ebay,
IIRC), with a Winne Blues logo?

--
TimC
Error: Fuzzy Pointer Exception

With a pack shaped pocket on your right upper arm, fastened by a
rolled up sleeve.

Brendo

Brendo said:

On Mar 8, 8:50 am, rooman <rooman.2n3...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

there is a good summary of Unibet's position here:

tinyurl.com2r3t9zOpen ↗

--
rooman

So Astana wasn't invited because they had not received their ProTour
licence before December 12 2006. That's one question answered.

Unibet is frowned upon because they are international, I presume,
whereas FdJ and Lotto are only national, ie you can't take part in the
Belgian lotto if you live in France.

Brendo

Astana have still been offered positions by the Grand Tours Organisers ( as wild cards) and Unibet purposefully omitted...Unibet also claim the Grand Tour Organisers expect competing teams wanting to ride to "pay" for their invitation, and so the Pro Tour demand that all 20 teams can ride, means the likes of ASO miss out on their secret "payment" from the well healed teams, (likes of Unibet) .... it is about control and maximising the bucks... nothing else.

Lotto and FdJ both have web sites which provide international exposure to their national Lotteries, their beef is that they dont sell on line, so Unibet can have Madame Lemesurier in Nice hop on line and spend her hard earned Euros immediatley by buying a Unibet wager, when she would have to walk two doors to the cafe agent of FdeJour and pay her hard earned Euro over the counter for the lottery ticket....she could just as easily ring her friend Mej VanderVlaamen in Ghent and ask her to walk next door to the Lotto Agent and buy her a ticket in next Fridays Belgian Lottery and send her hard earned euros that way....

does it really matter..... the day of cartel, monopoly and control were started to be eroded when man could use smoke to signal rather than have to walk or run to warn of the invading Persians, if not well before then...so in this day of immediacy and instant communication and money transfer, the dinosaurs hanging on to the national monopolies are heading for extinction...this is them making their last gasps of their species, or they too come out and open their markets and also sell their product online and possibly make trillions more than they do now.....

you can buy an Australian Lottery ticket and every other game they offer downunder online in all states and overseas if you want... are the Aussie operators and authorities complaining when Unibet, FdJ and Lotto ride here?

little minds at play who dont see the big picture

Quoted message said:

little minds at play who dont see the big picture

--
rooman

Then how do we wipe 'em out???

Surely, a year or two of the Grand Tours NOT having the top 20 teams
(as the ProTour licence holders are supposed to be) would see them
lose out in TV and sponsor dollars, IF the ProTour was promoted in a
large way as THE Cycling Tour, thebest of the best.

If they want money, strangle 'em till they choke, then take them over.

Is that too simplistic?

Brendo

On Mar 8, 12:58 pm, rooman <rooman.2n3...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

you can buy an Australian Lottery ticket and every other game they
offer downunder online in all states and overseas if you want... are
the Aussie operators and authorities complaining when Unibet, FdJ and
Lotto ride here?

Don't point it out to them, or they will complain. Anti-competitive
behaviour is alive and well in Oz - helmet standards one fine example.

Donga

Brendo said:

I can understand the issues with Unibet.com. If national laws prevent
any form of gambling advertising except (usually) the national
lottery, casino, licence holder etc, then you can't expect your team
to be able to ride with the Unibet.com brand across their jersey. Nor
for that matter could you ride without the brand on your jersey,
becase you will be known as Unibet.com racing team, regardless of
whether you wear the brand or not. If you can't promote any gambling/
lottery organisation outside of that country's, then you can't do it.
Why Unibet.com didn't think of this when they bought the ProTour
licence is beyond me. I would have thought that this was something
they would have looked into very thoroughly, given their line of
business, and the restrictions that nations have.

But Astana? What are the reasons for thier 'wildcard' status. Whay are
they outside the other 18 teams in the ProTour (with Unibet.com) for
these events?

I am behind the exclusion of Unibet.com. National laws must be adhered
to. Do we accept a Winfield Blue team in the Tour Down Under if they
tick the boxes and hand over the peso's?

Brendo

Looks like it is completely legal for Unibet to race in their modified
kit on French roads....

"In a further development of its campaign to be allowed start Paris-
Nice and other ASO races, the Unibet.com team announced at a press
conference Wednesday afternoon that it has been assured by French
authorities that wearing clothing which omits the main sponsor's logo
makes the team fully legal on the country's roads."

Quoted message said:

From http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/mar07/mar08news

I wonder what the next excuse will be?

Brendo said:

I am behind the exclusion of Unibet.com. National laws must be adhered to. Do we accept a Winfield Blue team in the Tour Down Under if they
tick the boxes and hand over the peso's?

Of course we do, watched the formula 1 racing recently?

On Mar 8, 1:44 pm, SomeGuy <SomeGuy.2n4...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

Brendo said:

I am behind the exclusion of Unibet.com. National laws must be adhered
to. Do we accept a Winfield Blue team in the Tour Down Under if they
tick the boxes and hand over the peso's?

Of course we do, watched the formula 1 racing recently?

--
SomeGuy

No. I imagine this is related to cigarette sponsoring?

Brendo

from the GlobeMail : the French and Belgians are probably next...will it come too late for Unibet, or will the rely on this decision to fight on in France...

decision expected also on Sat Morn our time to determine declaration order from french Court that they are legal to ride in ? kit etc...

EU strikes down Italy's gambling restrictions

Print Edition 07/03/07 Page B14

State-run gambling companies in the European Union may find it harder to defend their monopolies after Europe's highest court lifted a barrier Italy used to keep out foreign competitors. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg yesterday ruled Italy can't use criminal law to stop gambling companies licensed in other EU nations, including Britain's Stanley Leisure PLC, from taking bets in the country. Shares of providers such as Austrian Web bookmaker Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG rose after yesterday's court decision, which may remove some restrictions on the EU's €50-billion ($77.17-billion) industry. BWIN (Vienna) rose €2 ($3.09) to €27.

rooman said:

from the GlobeMail : the French and Belgians are probably next...will it come too late for Unibet, or will the rely on this decision to fight on in France...

decision expected also on Sat Morn our time to determine declaration order from french Court that they are legal to ride in ? kit etc...

EU strikes down Italy's gambling restrictions

Print Edition 07/03/07 Page B14

State-run gambling companies in the European Union may find it harder to defend their monopolies after Europe's highest court lifted a barrier Italy used to keep out foreign competitors. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg yesterday ruled Italy can't use criminal law to stop gambling companies licensed in other EU nations, including Britain's Stanley Leisure PLC, from taking bets in the country. Shares of providers such as Austrian Web bookmaker Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG rose after yesterday's court decision, which may remove some restrictions on the EU's €50-billion ($77.17-billion) industry. BWIN (Vienna) rose €2 ($3.09) to €27.

Declaration proceedings in French Court went against the claim of Unibet today, but reasons are not available for assessment...

one thing is clear, that the French State Prosecutor intervened several times in the case, and it is thought the Magistrate was overwhelmed with patriotism to not go against the Government ( it is an election year over there)...and they still have the Guillotine no?

But the EC ruling against monopolies of State Gambling entities is about to make France a case of stubbornness in the face of all other surrounding countries removing monopolies...Sweden has it in motion, so has Belgium, and Italy has already given Unibet a licence, .

Also using the rationale of the French Court, it is being suggested that Unibet has a case to bring in Italy that FdeJ and Lotto be prohibited from riding in Italy as they DO NOT have licenses to operate in Italy, and Unibet does...

so we watch from the sidelines as Unibet for the time being cannot race in France ( even in the ?)....

Baden took the leader's jersey in Vuelta Murcia yesterday too...