BGC highlights £455m contribution to British horseracing
The Betting and Gaming Council says its members contributed the funds in the last 12 months through the betting levy, media rights and sponsorship.
UK.- The gambling industry lobby group, the Betting and Gaming Council, has highlighted the gambling sector’s contributions to British horseracing. It said that its members contributed £455m to the sport last year through the horseracing betting levy, media rights and sponsorship deals.
It added that bookmakers spent £125m on marketing to promote racing and betting through advertisements and partnerships, helping secure terrestrial coverage of the sport, support two racing channels and raising revenue for print newspapers. The new figures dwarf previous estimates on the regulated sector’s direct contribution to horseracing, which had been estimated at around £350m a year.
Media rights payments are calculated to have increased by around £45m since the previous year, reaching £340m in 2022. Horseracing betting levy payments are projected to be £99m in 2022/2023, up from £50m in 2016/2017, according to the Horserace Betting Levy Board.
The BGC noted that the record investment had enabled horseracing to use some of the revenue to deliver record prize money of £179.3m in 2022. The figures are based on data supplied by the BGC’s largest members, which account for around 85 per cent of all GGY on horserace betting.
CEO Michael Dugher said: “BGC members in the regulated betting industry are now paying more towards British horseracing than ever before, despite a 10.3 per cent reduction in betting turnover on racing in the last five years.
“These huge sums also come at a time when the regulated betting sector is under enormous pressure, not least in the form of recent measures unveiled in the government’s White Paper.
“As well as being a world-leading great British sport, enjoyed by millions, just like the betting industry, horseracing is a vital pillar of the economy, important to countless communities across the country and supporting tens of thousands of jobs.
“There has always been a symbiotic relationship between betting and racing. Our two industries can only succeed and prosper in the future if we work in unison towards a shared goal of growing the sport as a product – especially in the face of a recent decline in betting on racing.
“These figures show that betting continues to bankroll the sport but it is not a bottomless pit. I know racing, just like any other sport and indeed our own land-based betting and gaming industry, is trying to bounce back post-covid in the face of seriously challenging economic headwinds – a task made even harder for racing and betting because of the decisions the government deliberately chose to make in its recent White Paper.
“That is why BGC is fully committed to working together with the leadership of the sport, including the BHA and others, to ensure racing not only survives but thrives. Anyone who cares passionately about the sport, as I do, understands that racing must change. Future investment must come with reform.
“It is also important to note this funding to racing only comes from licensed bookmakers. The unsafe, unregulated gambling black market is a growing threat, and it makes no contribution whatsoever to horseracing.”
Horseracing is the second biggest sport in the UK, second only to football, with more than five million people attending around 1,400 fixtures annually across 59 racecourses. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has committed to reviewing the Horseracing Levy by next year.
