{"id":777046079,"date":"2026-08-12T08:36:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777046079"},"modified":"2026-08-12T11:06:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T14:06:03","slug":"australias-country-racecourses-could-disappear-officials-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/australias-country-racecourses-could-disappear-officials-warn","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s country racecourses could disappear, officials warn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Racing Victoria CEO Aaron Morrison has warned that gambling advertising reforms could significantly reduce wagering revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Australia.- Racing officials are warning that country racecourses could disappear<\/strong> if proposed gambling advertising reforms<\/a> lead to a significant drop in wagering revenue. Racing Victoria CEO Aaron Morrison<\/strong> said around 85 per cent of racing’s funding comes from wagering-related revenue, leaving the industry particularly exposed to changes that reduce betting activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned warned of a \u201cvery real<\/strong>\u201d threat and said the industry had no alternative source of funding<\/strong> ready to replace any revenue lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf funding falls materially, difficult decisions will have to be made around investment, infrastructure, returns to participants and stakeholders and racing activity,\u201d Morrison said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morrison’s comments come as debate continues over Australia’s proposed new gambling advertising rules. Racing officials are particularly concerned about proposals to restrict inducements for existing customers, saying such promotions contribute up to 30 per cent of turnover on racing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victoria has 109 racing clubs, with all but four located outside inner Melbourne. Racing Victoria says the state’s racing industry supports around 33,500 full-time equivalent jobs and generates approximately A$5.5bn (US$3.6bn) in economic activity. It says the impact would extend beyond racecourses, affecting trainers, jockeys, stable staff, breeders, veterinarians, suppliers, volunteers and other workers who depend on racing across regional Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Industry restructuring plan proposes closure of seven New Zealand racetracks<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Racing Victoria CEO Aaron Morrison has warned that gambling advertising reforms could significantly reduce wagering revenue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777029784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Racing Victoria's CEO, Aaron Morrison, warns that proposed gambling advertising reforms in Australia could severely impact the racing industry's revenue, 85% of which comes from wagering. Restrictions on customer inducements, contributing up to 30% of turnover, threaten the A$5.5bn economic activity and 33,500 jobs supported by the sector, particularly in regional Victoria.","focusai_entities":"Aaron Morrison, Racing Victoria","focusai_location":"Australia, Victoria, Melbourne, New Zealand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.8), affiliate_publisher (0.7), marketing_crm (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Impact Analysis","query":"What specific economic modelling has Racing Victoria undertaken to quantify the A$5.5bn economic activity at risk from the proposed advertising reforms, particularly concerning the 30% turnover from inducements?"},{"label":"Funding Diversification Strategy","query":"Given the 85% reliance on wagering revenue, what alternative funding diversification strategies are being explored by Racing Victoria to mitigate future regulatory or market-driven revenue shocks?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,157,24628,158],"tags":[289,25040,2794],"class_list":["post-777046079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-business-news","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-slider-home","tag-australia","tag-gambling-ads-ban","tag-racing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777046079"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777046089,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046079\/revisions\/777046089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777029784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777046079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777046079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777046079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}