Racing will have to 'take its pain' and black market operators will rise following the budget, warns Entain figure

Gambling giant Entain, sponsor of all 14 races across Newbury's two-day Coral Gold Cup meeting, has cautioned that racing will still "take its pain" following Wednesday's budget and that its consequences mean black-market operators will be the only winners.

While horseracing was spared from tax rises by chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves, remote gaming duty will be upped to 40 per cent, from 21 per cent, from April. General betting duty for other online sports will also rise, to 25 per cent, from 15 per cent, from April 2027.

It led to major gambling corporations, including Betfair, Paddy Power and Sky Bet's owner Flutter Entertainment, and William Hill's parent company Evoke, saying their spending will be reduced. 

Other operators on a smaller scale, like BetGoodwin and DragonBet, went further and said they were already reviewing or withdrawing their sponsorship commitments. 

Entain, the parent company of Ladbrokes and Coral, have added their voice to the warnings. Their UK PR director Simon Clare believes the rises will accelerate punters moving to the black market.

"The budget was a devastating blow," he said on Friday. "We always said tax rises were going to hurt the sector badly, but we didn't expect the size of the quantum increase on remote gaming duty, and in the increase on everything bar British racing on remote in April 2027.

"It's going to hit the betting sector really hard and will affect consumers and the sports we support. The only winners we can see are the black market, which is already threatening the legal sector and has now been given carte blanche to outcompete and attract customers who aren't safeguarded, while paying no taxes. From that, there will be no money flowing into racing and sport."

He added: "There's an element of celebration that the tax on betting on racing was left unchanged. In the normal scheme of things, that might have been quite helpful, but the sheer quantum of the other increases means the overall pot we spend will have to be cut back and every part of the product will have to take its pain."

Clare said no decisions have been made yet about scaling back Entain's sponsorships in light of the budget. Coral sponsors Newbury's flagship race on Saturday, the Coral Gold Cup, as well as the likes of the Welsh Grand National and the Eclipse, while Ladbrokes' headline sponsorship is next month's King George VI Chase at Kempton.

Coral: sponsor the Coral Cup, Coral Gold Cup and many more high-profile races in BritainCredit: Edward Whitaker

Clare criticised what he deems to have been a lack of cooperation with betting operators, including with the 'Axe the Racing Tax' campaign, in the months before the budget.

Speaking to ITV Racing, Clare said: "We always said the BHA going alone was quite unhelpful. I understood that to an extent, but certain elements of racing cosied up with the anti-gambling campaigners and those figures should hang their heads in shame, frankly. I understand racing was trying to look after itself, but the chancellor took heed of that and proceeded to take a wrecking ball to the other betting product ranges.

"We'll be looking at decisions as a whole. We're passionate sponsors of racing, so it won't be decisions we take lightly. Racing and bookmakers go back decades, so the decisions won't be taken out of a battle with racing, but they will be hard-nosed commercial decisions. It's going to be a really tough journey."

The BHA's acting chief executive Brant Dunshea defended the governing body's approach, and still hopes to work together with bookmakers towards a brighter future for the sport.

He said: "We were asked through this consultation to represent the position of British racing, and that's what we've done all of the way through. 

"However, we absolutely value the relationships we have as a sport with wagering operators, and will continue to collaborate with our wagering partners. We recognise that other aspects of the budget will have an impact on the gambling sector and will affect different operators in different ways, and there will be impacts on the sport.

"We've worked hard to develop these relationships and will continue to do so, because we have a shared common goal to see British racing prosper and grow. I believe we are both aligned on that purpose."

Read more . . .

Sponsorships to be hit after bookmakers announce cutbacks in wake of budget tax increases 

The budget revealed big tax increases on the betting sector – what will the impact be on horseracing and punters? 

'One of the few times I've seen racing pull together' - budget leaks and the thawing sun do their bit to raise a smile at Wetherby 

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