SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has published details of a new Horseracing Bettors Forum, which will allow people who bet on British Racing to provide the BHA with constructive suggestions about how the sport can develop and change, for the benefit of the betting public.
The purpose of the Forum is to deliver proposals and recommendations to the BHA and the BHA Racing and Betting Group for developments to British Racing that would be of benefit to the wider community that bets on British Racing. It will also consider any proposals provided to it by the BHA for feedback on how they would be received by people betting on British Racing.
The Forum will consist of up to eight individuals with a demonstrable history of interest and involvement in betting on British Racing. The first Chair of the Forum will be Simon Rowlands, the current Head of Research and Development for global horseracing data analysts Timeform. The Chair role will rotate on a two-year rolling basis.
The remainder of the Forum will be appointed by the BHA in consultation with the Chair, and the BHA are inviting applications from appropriate individuals. Anyone who feels that they could make a valued contribution to British Racing should contact [email protected] with an outline of their credentials for membership of the Forum
Nick Rust, Chief Executive of the BHA, said:
“There are nine million people who bet on British Racing each year. They are an essential part of our sport and as such it is vital that the needs and wishes of those individuals – who are stakeholders in the industry – are properly considered. That is the purpose of this Forum.
“These are important times for the Industry as, at the same time as we move closer to signing the Members Agreement which will see the formal tripartite structure between the BHA, Horsemen and Racecourses formalised, the Betting Public will be given a formal route of communication into the BHA for the first time.
“While the body won’t be representative as such, it will act as a valuable consultative group and be a vehicle by which the Betting public can tell us what they want from the sport and advise us on how certain developments may affect them. We are seeking to identify a group of people with diverse interests in betting on British Racing so that it is capable of considering a wide range of relevant topics.
“One of the three key aims of our Industry Growth Strategy is to reverse the slow decline in betting on British Racing, and to achieve 5% growth on 2014 participation levels by 2020. Being in tune with betting consumers is important to our cause.
