And should offshore bookmakers that take bets on UK racing be forced to pay as well?
Just as the UK Government was forced to step into the dispute bteween the horse racing industry and the UK bookamkers to decide how much the bookmakers will have to give back to UK racing, an amount down from £115m three years ago to £75m this year, the clash between racing and gambling was revealed to be stronger than ever.
Betfair, which recently announced it could leave the UK, said that in the row with the British Horseracing Authority over the horse racing levy, the company felt it had been singled out by the BHA.
While UK bookmakers, who for next year offered to pay £50m vs a request of £130m, said reduced levy contributions are simply the result of people placing fewer bets on horse racing and they called for the government to scrap the levy altogether.
“Racing has to move from its dependency on income support to a proper free-market commercial relationship with the betting industry,” said the chief of the Association of British Bookmakers.
In recent months, the UK Government had considered using funds in abandoned betting accounts to fund UK sports, while the Chairman of the racecourse group Northern Racing called for offshore bookmakers that take bets on British racing to be forced to pay levy.
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