Bookmakers downplay impact of racing blackout
Operators hope Irish racing will help fill the void as all UK meetings cancelled until next Wednesday
Bookmakers have played down the financial impact of the blackout on UK horseracing, saying they have enough alternative products to keep customers entertained.
Shares of UK-listed operators dipped yesterday as the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said UK racing would be cancelled until at least next Wednesday following a flu outbreak.
Racing accounts for 40-50% of retail betting revenues and 25% of online.
“Accordingly, we estimate horseracing contributes c.£4m revenue for WMH each week (0.2% of group revenue), c.0.1% for GVC and c.0.2% for PPB,” said Numis analyst Richard Stuber.
Stuber said the unmitigated impact could be around £2.5m a day for bookmakers based on levy calculations, although he stressed it was a “back of the napkin calculation”.
At least 23 meetings will be missed, but the operators themselves downplayed the potential impact.
William Hill’s Rupert Adams said the loss of racing for a few days was not unusual – although normally due to frozen ground or snow – and that punters “tended to transfer loyalty to international racing”.
“A lot of punters come into the shop with a tenner and stay until they lose it so those guys will just bet on international racing.”
He added: ”Saturday is going to be a bit of a nightmare but its a massive football day so we’re still optimistic. If we lose Cheltenham, that’s when things start to change…”
Another horseracing exec at a major UK operator declined to give specifics but said: “Generally speaking it will obviously have an impact, but we do have quite an extensive international racing product which comes to the fore in these circumstances – and we will offer early prices and specials on various territories – France, US, Singapore, South Africa, Dubai etc.
“That said, UK & Ireland is key so the fact that ITV4 are showing Naas tomorrow is a big boost for us in terms of turnover and punter interest.
“In an ideal world, Horse Racing Ireland would look to stage another meeting or two next week to fill in the blank days on Monday and Tuesday – that would help the whole industry.”
The BHA will announce on Monday whether racing will resume on Wednesday.