SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
A new study has warned of the significant threats to British horse racing which could jeopardise the sport’s future.
The report, made by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Racing and Bloodstock , mainly outlines its concerns over proposed increases in online betting tax, the implementation of affordability checks on bettors, and the failure to adequately review the Horserace Betting Levy system.
Racing’s economic contribution is over £4bn annually whilst it also supports 85,000 jobs, which MPs argue emphasises the sport’s cultural importance and global standing.
Racing’s value goes “even deeper”
APPG for Racing and Bloodstock Co-Chair, Dan Carden, described racing as part of the social fabric of British communities – while also citing data that 53% of Brits agreed.
He said: “It helps to make up the identity and sense of place in racing towns. It brings together people from all backgrounds, unites families across generations, and is a way of life for rural communities.”
This falls in line with the 62% of the public believing that the government has a responsibility to protect the UK’s international sporting standing. MPs have particularly examined the Horserace Betting Levy, often described as the central funding mechanism for racing.
Currently set at 10% of bookmakers’ profits, the levy finances prize money, equine welfare, and veterinary research. However, racing receives less than 3% of the £13bn bet every year by British punters on horse racing, and the sports’ leadership has been calling for a review of the betting levy for some time.
The MPs’ report explained that this 3% contribution is the lowest percentage of any major racing nation, stating “This puts Britain at risk of falling behind our international competitors, and acting as a drag anchor on growth.
“The design of the Levy also discriminates against British racing. While operators are liable to pay it on a proportion of profits they make from bets placed at home, bets placed by British punters on overseas races are exempt.
“This acts as an inverse tariff on British racing and incentivises betting operators to push and promote overseas racing at the expense of our domestic industry.”
Significantly more expensive for operators
Meanwhile, the report describes proposed tax increase as an “existential threat” to British horse racing, and new single Remote Betting & Gaming Duty of 21% is projected to cost operators for online horserace betting over £40m each year.
The organisation argues that such increased costs will incentivise gambling operators to promote betting on cheaper online gaming products at the expense of sports like horse racing. It was also reiterated that this policy could also drive more punters to unregulated black markets.
Furthermore, the report describes the current operation of financial risk checks – introduced by operators ahead of and since the publication of the 2023 Gambling White Paper – as “inconsistent”, and already leading to a £1.6bn fall in online betting turnover on racing over the last two years.
Therefore, the APPG has called for a more “proportionate and frictionless system” of financial risk checks to better distinguish between the majority of safe, responsible bettors and those who are genuinely at risk.
With huge government and policymaker decisions to be made, the economic future of Britain’s second-largest spectator sport now remains uncertain.
The report concluded: “Our call to the government is clear: exempt horse racing from plans to harmonise gambling duties, reflecting its fundamentally different nature and level of risk. A blunt, one size fits all approach to harmonisation comes with serious and unnecessary unintended consequences for the sport.
“The government has a choice. Move ahead as intended and risk the future of British racing, or take the more considered route and give racing the exemption it needs from harmonisation.
“In doing so, policymakers will safeguard a national asset and have the thanks and gratitude not just of stakeholders across the sport, but of people across the country who enjoy racing and depend on it for their livelihoods.”
