Replaces system from the 1960s
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne says a longstanding horseracing levy will be replaced by a “betting right,” which would make bookmakers pay the horse industry for the right to take bets on the sport.
Osborne made the announcement in a recent budget presentation, according to SBC News. Conservative MP Matthew Hancock applauded the move, calling it “the biggest step forward in a generation for racing. 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.
“This is a once-in-a-generation transformation which will trigger significant growth, jobs and international investment,” Hancock added. “I now look forward to seeing the details of the legislation and to a more secure future for our golden sport.”
Nick Rust, CEO of the British Horseracing Authority, also hailed the announcement as a “welcome and tremendous boost for the tens of thousands of people across the country that derive their livelihoods from our sport.”
Not surprisingly, the Association of British Bookmakers called the plan “unworkable,” and said it will be “mired in legal … issues” for years, leaving racing “seriously underfunded for a considerable length of time.”
“Arguably, the proceeds from the right will not even be able to be distributed until legal certainty is obtained, with racing being the main loser,” according to the ABB.
Shipley MP Philip Davies and Labor peer Lord Lispey also slammed the plan, calling it a “monopoly by statute, with racing as the sole seller of racing product, able to extract what it will from punters’ pockets to divert it to rich owners, trainers and a profitable racing industry.”
But MP Helen Grant said the action is necessary to ensure that the sport of kings benefit from revenues generated by betting on races.“The vast majority of bets placed by punters outside of betting shops are making no contribution to the central finances of the sport,” she observed. “This is unsustainable, and there is recognition that this needs to change.”
According to Britishhorseracing.com, the betting right would replace the 1963 horserace betting levy and “apply to all bookmakers, wherever located, who take bets from British customers on British racing and will be administered directly by the racing industry.”
The Telegraph reports that the racing industry has long complained that the current framework is outdated and cannot capture revenue from wagers taken offshore.
