The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has published insights into how it will measure the success of its new Fixtures List for UK racing. Announced last month, the BHA and stakeholders settled on a new fixtures list for 2024, with the aim of showcasing new initiatives designed to grow racing’s appeal with the wider UK public. Headline measures will see the …
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British racing appointed eight new Board members and a Programme Director to plan and deliver an industry wide people strategy. The new hires were confirmed by Chair of British racing’s Industry People Board, Neil Hayward. Initiated and funded by the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and the Racing Foundation, the Industry People Board will lead the development of racing’s long-term …
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The funding of UK racing is to be reorganised as the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) commits to a new three-year business plan to ensure long-term financial stability for all stakeholders. The launch of the Business Plan had been delayed to 2023 due to the levy board factoring post-COVID realities, impacting the sport, government and British society. HBLB maintains its …
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Television presenter and former professional footballer, Jermaine Jenas, has become the face of Great British Racing’s (GBR) Everyone’s Turf campaign launching this summer. Everyone’s Turf will run as a national advertising-led campaign which aims to show the different facets of the sport, and is receiving support from the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB). As Jenas swaps the TV studio for …
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DCMS has been warned to protect the interests of horseracing, as the department prepares to publish its forthcoming White Paper that will demand a wholesale regulatory reform of the gambling sector. This weekend, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reported to have raised ‘specific questions’ with DCMS secretary Nadine Dorries on whether UK racing’s concerns have been weighed up by inbound reforms. …
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The Horseracing Betting Levy Board (HBLB) has issued a ‘going concern’ notice on the funding scheme’s ability to continue after it published a troubling set of financial results today. This morning, HBLB declared its annual report and accounts for 2020/2021 to DCMS, revealing that betting levy receipts taken for the year ending March 2021 had fallen to £82 million (2019/2020: …
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The horseracing industry group, which has been responsible for coordinating work in response to the coronavirus, has outlined the conditions that would need to be met to ensure the resumption of racing ‘at the earliest opportunity’. The ten-page plan, released on the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) website, says that racing will “almost certainly” resume behind closed doors, which the group …
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Following recent cuts to prize money across the racing scene, Chelmsford Racecourse has called for further support from horsemen to offset the drop in revenues as a result of loss in media rights. After the introduction of FOBT legislation, which dropped machine stakes from £100 to £2, an estimated 1,100 betting shops have closed their doors which has subsequently resulted …
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News that five of the UK’s top operators had committed to a ten-fold increase in voluntary levy to GambleAware made big news in July, but a major deal for horse racing announced the following week – involving four of the same five – passed with considerably less fanfare. Tom Byrne, Operations Manager at HBLB, tells us more. The horseracing sector …
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The UK Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) has published its official expenditure plans, outlining racing funding allocations for the full calendar year 2019. In its statement, HBLB governance details that it has established how to allocate its reduced budget of £94m (previously £99m) to support racing innovations, resources and stakeholders. The statutory body overseeing the racing levy responsibilities has committed …
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