UK confirms bookies to face racing betting right

UK bookmakers will soon be charged for the right to accept wagers on British racing events rather than a levy based on racing revenues, the country’s Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed today.

The announcement, made by George Osborne during his budget statement in the House of Commons, follows the recent completion of a consultation into the viability of a betting right by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

“In the week after Cheltenham we will support the British racing industry by introducing a horserace betting right,” the Chancellor said.

Osborne first announced the launch of a consultation in December’s Autumn Statement and its implementation will require all operators licensed in the UK to pay the racing authority to offer books on British horseracing.

While exact details of the betting right have yet to be released, today’s news was welcomed by horseracing’s governing body. British Horseracing Authority chief executive Nick Rust said the move was recognition of “the importance of a fair and sustainable funding mechanism for British Racing”.

“British Racing – its governing body, racecourses and horsemen – has a collective desire for a modern and direct relationship with the Betting industry, and believes that a Racing Right is the best solution to achieve this, and to secure the long-term prosperity of our sport and those within it.

“We are still in the situation whereby the vast majority of bets placed by punters outside of betting shops are making no contribution to the central finances of the sport. This is unsustainable, and there is recognition that this needs to change.

The Association of British Bookmakers, however, said the new funding model is “unworkable” and “will be mired in legal issues for many years preventing the monies being distributed to racing”.

The chief executive of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain, Barry Faulkner, said he remained anxious that any proposals are extended to greyhound racing after recently saying the industry had reached a “critical level”.

Meanwhile Conservative Party Member of Parliament Matthew Hancock whose constituency, West Suffolk, includes Newmarket Racecourse, described the announcement as the “biggest step forward in a generation” for the racing industry.

“I fully support this announcement not least because racing supports 1000s of jobs in Newmarket and across the country as a whole,” he said.

“I have long argued that a Racing Right is vital to putting the finances of Britain’s second most popular sport on a sustainable footing, and now we will have it,” Hancock added.