British horseracing betting levy income to drop 17.5%
The Horserace Betting Levy Board has forecast a 17.5 per cent drop in revenue from the levy for the last financial year due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on British horseracing fixtures and betting shops.
UK.- The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), the body that administers the funds paid by betting operators to the horseracing sector in Great Britain, has forecast a significant drop in levy income for the year ending March 31.
The betting levy is collected from licensed bookmakers’ gross profit generated from betting on racing. It is expected to fall 17.5 per cent year-on-year to £80m for the 2020-21 financial year.
HBLB chairman Paul Darling said the drop was due to the suspension of racing fixtures in Britain from mid-March to June owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, and subsequent restrictions.
Racing resumed in Britain from June 1 but without spectators, and betting shops were closed for much of the year.
He said: “There was no British racing for the first two months of the levy year and it was far from certain when racing resumed in June 2020 as to what the level of betting activity would be in the months that followed.
“We have also seen Licensed Betting Offices either closed completely for parts of the year or open with restrictions.
“Since June, we have attempted to balance on the one hand our desire to commit substantial extra support for the sport from our reserves with, on the other hand, the uncertainty around our own ongoing future income.”
Darling said that the HBLB had increased the sum it distributed in prize money and had offered loans to racecourses in order to provide support to the horseracing industry. He said the board still hoped to raise more funds for support.
He said: “We spent £96m in the past Levy year, providing around 50 per cent more to prize money than normal in recent months, as well as £3m towards costs of new regulatory measures to ensure that the sport can take place in accordance with Covid-19 protocols.
“It is to the credit of all those involved that fixtures have taken place without interruption since June.
“On the basis of £80m income, our reserves at the end of the 2020/21 levy year stood at just over £40m. This will give us the flexibility to consider further significant investment in the months ahead, as the board has had in mind the importance of having sufficient resources for the recovery phase from Covid-19.”
See also: Nick Rust named chairman of British horseracing price commission
