The British Horseracing Authority have made a statement saying new legislation may be needed to underpin industry funding, if the horseracing betting levy is to be scrapped.

Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe last week tried to reason with the warring factions of the betting and racing industry by telling them to “Proceed to detailed commercial negotiations” over how to fund the sport.  The sports minister intervened in the row between the betting and racing industry over how much the bookmakers should pay.  The bookmakers were prepared to pay £40 million to the racing industry, which wanted £135 million for this year.  The bookmakers argued their contribution should be cut, as they were forced to pay for Turf TV to beam pictures of race meetings in their shops.

Determining a £90m-£100m deal for the year beginning April 1, Mr Sutcliffe impressed upon the two sides that the Government did not expect to become involved in any more disputes.

British Horseracing Authority chairman Paul Roy, speaking at its annual conference, however called for legislation whereby bookmakers had to honour their funding responsibilities.  Mr Roy commented that the racing industry had already tried to find a commercial solution, based on racing selling data rights, which was overturned by the European courts.

"That was a serious setback and it taught us to be pragmatic." he said, adding that the new form of funding could "be created without the legislation to support it”.

Although Mr Sutcliffe did say this would be the last resort, but warned, “If that is what we have to do, we will.  But it flies in the face of what we want to do.”

In response to Mr Sutcliffe’s statement David Zeffman, a partner at law firm Olswang who advised Lord Donohue on his 2005 report into funding racing said; “Our conclusion was that there was no legally robust mechanism to achieve that. 

“Bookmakers no longer rely solely on horseracing, so it is important racing finds other revenues.”
The British Horseracing Authority’s chief executive, Nic Coward, stated that only “30 – 32 percent of racing’s income came from betting” which is low in comparison to France where the figure is 80 percent – with other revenues coming from racehorse attendances and sponsorship.

Even so, Mr Roy acknowledged UK racing needed to tap other revenue sources. "Where is the Chinese, Russian and Indian participation in this sport?" he asked. "Where are the hedge funds and private equity companies? My fear is that if racing has only managed to stand still in a period of unprecedented economic growth, what will happen in a recession?"