The greatest generation, the lost generation, the baby boomers, generation X and now… the Facebook generation. I have to say that it seems like the generations are going down hill. I knew things were getting bad when my Aunt’s best friend, a retired schoolteacher who is pushing 60, friend requested me on Facebook.

My Aunt’s best friend isn’t the only person who has caught wind about what all the hip kids are doing these days. Betfair, a UK-based online gambling company, is joining the likes of Goldman Sachs and placing their bets on the United States legalizing online gambling in the near not-to-distant future. “We want to bring the Facebook generation to the track,” says Gerard Cunningham, head of Betfair’s U.S. Operations.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say he hopes to bring the track to the Facebook generation. Plans include the hefty $50 million investment/acquisition of Los Angeles-based American TV Games Network or “TVG.” TVG operates a television channel that broadcasts horse racing to 32 million homes throughout the United States.

In Silicon Valley, Cunningham and company are constructing a technical team that will fuse the television property with a powerful website to stream live horse racing and incorporate social networking (because the kids love social networking), Twitter feeds, etc.

Currently, Betfair is only involved in horse racing and steering clear of any legal road bumps. “When other forms of gambling become legal, we’ll be ready,” he says. “Until then, if it’s even a gray area we’re not going to touch it.”

Tags: European Union, Facebook, Horse Racing, online casino, online casinos, online gambling

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