Could the General election change racing forever?
A fair few years ago I started visiting the houses of parliament.
I wasn’t looking to be an MP I just wanted to follow the passage of the new Gambling Bill through parliament and the committee stage. I learnt a lot about politics, lobbying, MP’s, party whips and the legislative process. The biggest thing I learnt was it was largely a pointless exercise. All the discussion, cross checking and diligence went out the window when the bill was guillotined thanks to the impending general election. I say wasted, I’m sure it wasn’t, but when something is sped up it’s likely to be done badly IMHO. But the bill was generally OK as it turns out.
I sense that perhaps this won’t be the case this time around? Currently the Government is consulting on the Horse Racing Levy and whether racing should be given the ‘Right to bet’ to raise funds instead of the levy. Should this be a concern to exchange users and betting public. Yep, because it’s almost certain that the HRB will use the consultation to get a ‘better’ deal for racing. I say ‘better’ as it probably revolves around increasing revenue and that often doesn’t go hand in hand with growing a product or increasing its reach.
There is a bit of background on this link to the Guardian article discussing the consultation. You can view the consultation page on this link. On that page there is an interesting and revealing report on the current state of play in the industry. It makes for interesting reading. I think that Horse Racing should modernise. When I’m sat here poking around on low quality races you can’t help but think racing would be better server by showing more quality, even if it has to sacrifice some quantity.
My concern with the current discussion is that it appears to be proposing the Australian model. In Australia they have used that model to try protect interests and push out any betting other than simple, old fashioned, punting. Which is surely to the detriment of punters? Also its off putting to new entrants to the horse racing betting world. Times have moved on, technology has improved and racing should be embracing it and compete with the full on, detailed coverage of other sports. Look at the stats being thrown off during a Tennis or Football match and see how that engages fans. Look at how technology can increase the yield and interest on racing.
The thing I learnt in my brush with Parliament was that politicians will act on things that impact them or the party line. I’m sure a number of representations have been done in the run up to the election and with the general election just around the corner, that will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the outcome. The landscape could significantly when any legislation is introduced.
Interesting times for the racing industry!
Category: Horse Racing
