Irish Tote betting plummets after Israeli ban

Irish Tote betting industry is blaming a ban on betting on horse racing in Israel for a decline over the last few months.

Ireland.- Irish and British racing had signed a deal for its races to be shown in betting shops in Israel but a ban on betting on horse racing in the middle-eastern country seems to have taken its toll in the Irish Tote betting industry. The segment has seen a major decline over the last few months and operators explained it is due to the Israeli ban.

Turnover for the government’s subsidiary Horse Racing Ireland had grown for seven successive years, mainly thanks to the Israeli deal, with increases of 22.1% in 2016 and 7.2% in 2017. However, the ban caused a 32.8% drop to €32.4 million in total turnover for the year, from the previous €48.2 million.

“These deals ultimately wend their way back in some shape or form into Tote pool size and a return to racecourses for pictures,” said HRI’s chief executive Brian Kavanagh as he blamed the ban in Israel for the turnover drop. “The biggest deal was with an Israeli betting organisation who opened betting shops throughout Israel. Rather than betting at fixed odds with local operators punters there bet into the host Tote pool,” he added.