Youbet.com Promotes Champion to CEO

Youbet.com president Charles Champion has been promoted to chief executive officer of the online racing and wagering company effective immediately.

Champion, a former newspaper executive, was hired byYoubet.com in April 2002. He is also chief operating officer.

"He has quickly applied his considerable operating and marketing skills to our enterprise," said David Marshall, co-founder of Youbet.com and previous CEO. "He has learned the industry. He knows the key players and he enjoys their respect. Chuck Champion is ready to take responsibility for all the deliverables at YouBet.com. Having had the opportunity to work closely with Chuck, I am also highly impressed with his integrity and passion."

Marshall said he is not leaving the company that he helped create in 1987 and took public in 1995. Instead, he said he will main a member of the executive committee and focus his attention on strategic planning, business developments, and building relationships with the financial community. Marshall replaced Robert Fell as CEO last March at the same he provided the company $750,000 in financing.

Since March, Youbet.com has dramatically reduced the amount of cash it was spending, attracted new subscribers, and increased handle nearly 40% for the second quarter of the year compared with the same period of 2001. Champion, who was senior vice president of the Knight-Ridder company owing the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, played a key role in these achievements.

"We are proud of the enormous progress we have made over the last five months and remain a committed team dedicated to keeping Youbet on its current growth track and maintaining our market leadership," Champion said.

Youbet.com (Nasdaq:UBET), offers 24-hour access to live racing from 80 racetracks in 39 states, Canada, and Australia. The company has an alliance with the TV Games Network that gives its subscribers access to some of the country's premier tracks--Del Mar, Churchill Downs, Belmont Park, and Hollywood Park, which have exclusive contracts with TVG.