Ireland: on-course bookmakers threaten to strike
The association that represents bookmakers in Ireland has revealed that its members are likely to strike and can’t guarantee a service tomorrow.
Ireland.- The Irish National Professional Bookmakers Association (INPBA) has informed that on-course bookmakers could strike, starting this Tuesday in Punchestown. This move would be supported by the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) and Horse Racing Ireland (HRI).
According to the Irish Times, the bookmakers have a problem with the race schedule, the interval between races and charges they have to pay to be involved in meetings. “We have to pay five times the admission fee to get into any meeting. So if the admission is €20, we have to pay €100 just to stand,” the bookmakers explained.
Layer Ray Mulvany said on Sunday that they don’t have a problem paying for the big meetings or at weekends. However, he considers that it is excessive when it comes to midweek fixtures where attendances are very poor.
“We’ve been in talks [with AIR and HRI] to explain that things have changed, our industry has changed, and we need some relief. We’ve met three times in the last seven weeks and we’ve been met at all stages with nothing,” Mulvany added.
The INPBA’s stance
The INPBA said that strike isn’t the way they want to proceed, but they want to engage in negotiations to change the way meetings are being staged. “Racecourse attendances have suffered badly, especially at midweek meetings which have caused on-course betting turnover to decline by 75% in the last ten years,” the INPBA said in a statement.
“The decline in turnover and the burden of servicing the additional 55 meetings per year is no longer viable for the on-course market. The increase in the number of race meetings in the last decade has led to a serious decline in the average attendance at fixtures, consequently leaving the betting ring woefully short of customers.”
The association added that the racecourses have recognised the trend in dealing with other racecourse business but they have refused to reduce the charges to bookmakers who have been told to accept the terms or leave.
Individual bookmakers can no longer sustain these losses and remedial action is necessary if the betting ring is to survive. Therefore we give notice that from November 24 a bookmaking service will no longer be guaranteed at all race meetings. We apologise to racegoers – very few alas – that may be inconvenienced and remind the racecourses that the betting ring cannot function without customers.”
Bookies get betting relief
The measure establishes that bookmakers in the country won’t be subject to pay taxes on the first €50k in bets that they take in a year. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said that this was subject to EU state aid rules.
While the aid increases to €50k, the tax strategy group from the department had suggested €2 million a year to help those bookmakers compete against the leading operators like Ladbrokes or Paddy Power.
