East Midlands MEP visits local racecourse to discuss the state of British horseracing

Conservative Member of the European Parliament, Emma McClarkin, has this week paid a visit to Leicester racecourse in Oadby for an insight into the British horseracing industry.

The MEP, who is Conservative spokesperson for sport in the European Parliament, was given a tour of the facilities and met a number of the people running the sport, from the stable yard to the racetrack. She was particularly interested in the interaction between the horseracing and betting industries, for which horseracing is uniquely dependent unlike other sports. Betting on horseracing is a huge industry in Europe, with around €35 billion of activity each year, while Britain is the largest Member State in Europe for jump races.

Due to the fundamental role that betting proceeds play in the funding of the sport, agreements are normally reached between bookmakers and British racing to ensure that some of the proceeds trickle down. However, as the betting market opens up to less traditional betting platforms, particularly those online, these agreements are not replicated, meaning the money doesn’t find its way back to the sport.

Emma said;
“I am a champion of the digital single market and it is a priority for the UK Government, it’s completion being fundamental to our continued relationship with the EU.

There are massive opportunities for our businesses but we must recognise some of the potential dangers too. Horseracing has a unique funding structure and expanding the digital single market without taking into account loopholes could bring this industry to its knees.”

The East Midlands MEP was interested to hear about the Horserace Betting Right, an initiative between British racing and the UK Government. The fundamental principle of the scheme would be that bookmakers would have to pay for the right to place bets on the sport, while the horseracing industry would have the right to chase payments from those who had taken bets but not given anything back to the sport.

Emma continued;
“The Chancellor made clear his support for this in the 2015 budget. What we need to make sure of now is that the betting and horseracing industries can work together to assess how this can work in practice and to implement a system that will work for both. If we can ensure that the final result is a fair one, it could be used as a model for the rest of Europe to ensure that a successful digital single market doesn’t come at a cost for horseracing in Europe.”