'Let's share the petition link far and wide' - RMG chief urges racing fans to make their voices heard over affordability checks

Racing fans have been urged to reach out to family and friends in the drive to get as many signatures as possible on the UK Parliamentary petition launched a week ago which demands a halt to plans for "inappropriate and discriminatory" affordability checks.

Martin Stevenson is chief executive of Racecourse Media Group, the umbrella company responsible for the media rights to 35 British racecourses and the parent entity to Racing TV.

Stevenson hailed the unity of purpose across the racing industry, as well as the rapid progress made in gathering signatures for the petition, which on Wednesday evening was three-quarters of the way to achieving the 100,000-name threshold required for the subject of affordability checks to be considered for debate in parliament.

And Stevenson argued that the petition was the most direct way for racing fans and bettors to raise their concerns over a subject which would directly affect them.

"We felt that the punters' voice had not been properly heard during the Gambling Commission consultation and, first the industry-wide survey, and now the petition, show the deep strength of feeling among the betting public and racing fans," said Stevenson.

"To have 15,000 respondents to the survey and around 75,000 sign the petition in a week clearly demonstrates the betting public's and racing fans' widespread objection to the significant infringement on personal freedoms resulting from financial risk checks.

"It reaffirms British racing's grave concern that these intrusive and discriminatory checks will have serious repercussions on the funding of our sport and also move a significant number of affected punters out of the UK-regulated environment and so exposing them to potential harm."

Stevenson said that once fans and punters had signed the petition, they had the power to dramatically increase their individual contribution.

"We strongly urge everyone who has an interest in the sport to add their signature please – and share the petition link far and wide," said Stevenson. "It is fantastic to see the industry come together on this campaign.

Martin Stevenson: "It is fantastic to see the industry come together on this campaign"

"If everyone maximises all their assets and networks, and we all forward the link on to ten family, friends and colleagues, then we can hit the 100,000-signature landmark in the next few days – and hopefully push on beyond that too."

Punters have had their say through a consultation on 'Financial risk checks for bettors', which was conducted by the Gambling Commission, and a Right to Bet survey. More than half of the 14,000 racing bettors who completed the survey said they would be prepared to walk away from the sport completely, or reduce their involvement, rather than provide personal financial information.

Estimates as to the loss of income to racing through reduced levy and media rights income directly attributable to the impact of affordability checks run to £250 million in the first five years of full implementation.

Punters and the racing industry are being called on to sign a petition calling on the government to stop the implementation of affordability checks. You can sign the petition here.

Read more . . .

Punters urged to step forward and push petition against affordability checks past crucial 100,000 mark 

Stable staff union adds weight to campaign as affordability checks petition passes 75,000 signatures 

Time for punters to become political beings and act in unison to fight these harebrained checks 

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