Betting operators urge patience as turnover on British racing falls by 5.9 per cent in the first three months of 2024

Leading voices in the gambling industry have called for patience before rushing to judge the effects of Premier racing after the BHA revealed a 5.9 per cent fall in overall betting turnover on British racing for the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2023.

The headline figure was revealed as part of a first quarter report tied to the two-year experiment with Premier racing.

The BHA also urged caution when examining the betting figures, which account for two of the 12 key performance indicators outlined when the Premier racing project was announced.

Removing the effect of the Cheltenham Festival, the BHA reported a 2.7 per cent slide in betting on what are now Premier meetings, as opposed to 5.2 per cent at core fixtures, which is in line with a target to have Premier fixtures outperform the more run-of-the-mill racing product by 1-2 per cent.

Based on the Gambling Commission's latest industry statistics for 2022-23, a 5.9 per cent decrease in turnover would amount to around £130 million less being bet online on British racing in the first three months of 2024, and were the trend to be continued through the rest of the year, the downturn would exceed £500m.

Simon Clare, the director of public relations for Coral and Ladbrokes, said: "The first real proof of the product will be the six months of the Flat season, when you have exactly the fixture list you've planned and, during what is the busiest period of racing, you've allowed more room for the big fixtures to breathe on Saturdays and you've created strong Sundays.

"The next quarter and indeed the third quarter will be more revealing about how the actual Premier racing changes have impacted in the first year."

Simon Clare: "The first real proof of the product will be the six months of the Flat season"Credit: Ian Walton

Clare added: "The jumps season is always going to be challenging for measuring the impact of what are effectively fixture list and race programme changes, when you have so many abandonments and weather-related issues.

"It's been a very difficult period with the regularity and economic issues, but the weather has been unhelpful as well."

Flutter – which includes Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet among its brands – pointed to difficult trading conditions for the betting industry, but remained positive about the role of Premier racing in reviving the sport's finances.

"This is unfortunately not a surprise and reflects the pressures the industry faces, not least the continued increase in costs which has resulted in bookmakers offering fewer promotions and special offers for racing fans," said a Flutter spokesman.

"We remain absolutely committed to working with racing to deliver a genuine customer-led, modernised proposition that can broaden the appeal of the sport to reach new audiences, and we firmly believe Premier racing can be a part of that."

One industry estimate puts the loss of online turnover due to weather-related issues in the region of £50m, while the Cheltenham Festival also underperformed due to a combination of some races being perceived as less competitive, as well as the loss of the cross-country race.

Overall, nine of the 12 targets set by the BHA board were reported on in the first quarter summary – a further three will be judged over a longer timescale – and the pilot scheme for Sunday evening racing has already been shelved for the moment after falling well short of the required 15-20 per cent upturn in betting compared to midweek fixtures.

Of the remaining eight, the desire to halt the decline in overall attendances for Premier meetings in 2024 has been graded 'not on track' with the same grade being awarded to the ambition to significantly reduce race clashes during the key Saturday afternoon period.

An increase in prize-money of £3.2 million for races at Premier meetings across the first three months met the overall target of a £6-7m increase in 2024, while three measure around field sizes and the competitiveness of the racing product have all been graded as 'partially on track'.

However, it is the continued decline in the amount of money flowing into the sport through betting revenues that will be of particular concern to every stakeholder group within the sport.

The desire to halt the decline in overall attendances for Premier meetings in 2024 has been graded 'not on track'Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com)

In a blog post issued alongside the updates on its key performance indicators, the BHA said: "The impact of affordability checks and the challenging economic climate have contributed towards betting on racing having been in decline for some time and that trend has continued from January to March, when total betting turnover dropped by 5.9 per cent.

"More positively, the betting companies report that the number of active bettors are up, in particular on Saturdays."

The BHA pointed to what it feels are strong turnover figures for the Premier offering on Sundays, despite the headline figure of a 2.7 per cent year-on-year decline at the equivalent meetings on all days, which it says can at least partly be attributed to weather-related abandonments.

The BHA said: "The introduction of Premier raceday fixtures on Sundays has seen a particularly strong start, with betting turnover per race at these meetings 21.3 per cent higher compared to equivalent fixtures in 2023."

Clare also pointed to the spirit of co-operation which not only led to the creation of Premier racing but which means the BHA is able to share data publicly in order to gauge the success or otherwise of the fixture changes.

"When it comes to Premier racing, the collaboration between the betting industry the BHA and the Levy Board has been considerable," said Clare. "Some of the figures in the Q1 report have come from shared data between betting and racing and we are working collectively to measure whether this is working."

There will be a second quarter and half-year summary released at the end of the summer.

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