'It could be catastrophic for the sport' - punters and racing urged to sign petition against affordability checks

A petition launched by British racing urging the government to halt the introduction of intrusive affordability checks on bettors passed 83,000 signatures on Monday evening.

The petition says the checks are "inappropriate and discriminatory", risk pushing bettors to the black market and will significantly harm British racing's finances.

Plans to introduce blanket affordability checks, outlined in the gambling white paper published in April, have been met with significant and widespread opposition.

The government now has to respond to the petition and if 100,000 people sign then it will be considered for debate in parliament.

While the proposals have not yet been formally introduced, according to a recent survey more than one in four racing bettors say they have already been subjected to affordability checks by bookmakers in anticipation of their implementation, with operators requesting financial documentation, including payslips and P60 forms.

Industry leaders warn that enforcing the strict measures in the blanket way they are currently proposed would have a "catastrophic" impact on the industry, with more than half of the 14,000 racing bettors who completed a Right to Bet survey saying they would be prepared to walk away from the sport completely or reduce their involvement rather than provide personal financial information.

Industry estimates put the potential lost revenue to racing at around £250 million over the next five years. Substantial online betting revenue has already been lost since the checks were first introduced.

The petition was launched following a consultation on 'Financial risk checks for bettors', which was conducted by the Gambling Commission. The call for evidence closed on October 18.

Posted on Wednesday night on the UK government and parliament petitions website, the petition calls for the government to "Stop the implementation of betting affordability/financial risk checks".

It is registered in the name of Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale but launched on behalf of the racing industry and its customers.

Its petition reads: "We want the government to abandon the planned implementation of affordability checks for some people who want to place a bet. Such checks – including assessing whether people are 'at risk of harm' based on their postcode or job title – are inappropriate and discriminatory.

"The proposed checks could see bettors having to prove they can afford their hobby if they sustain losses as low as £1.37 per day. We accept the need to help those with problem gambling but more intrusive checks triggered at a higher threshold risks bettors moving to the black market where there are no consumer protections or safer gambling tools.

"There will also be a negative impact on British horseracing's finances due to a reduction in betting turnover and resulting fall in levy yield."

Truesdale said: "The horseracing industry is hugely supportive of changes which directly address problem gambling, especially in the digital age we are in and we welcome the reform of the gambling laws which will result from the white paper, once it passes through the parliamentary legislative process.

"However, the proposed and ongoing affordability checks are a significant infringement on personal freedom and have the potential to impact unfairly on two groups of people – the millions who gamble responsibly every year and the tens of thousands whose livelihoods depend directly and indirectly on horseracing.

Nevin Truesdale: petition is in the name of the Jockey Club chief executive

"It is deeply disturbing that racing fans may have to prove they can afford to lose what amounts to less than £10 a week having a flutter on the sport they love, in particular when you consider the extremely low percentage of problem gambling in relation to horseracing. Nowhere else in society do we see this level of intrusiveness from the government when it comes to people's legitimate hobbies."

Outlining the risk to racing, he said: "We know that the likely result will either be people leaving the sport, some as owners as well as bettors, or much worse, switching to the unregulated black market. Both of these outcomes will have catastrophic consequences, not only for racing's financial ecosystem but for thousands of livelihoods which depend upon it and therefore for communities and families up and down the country.

"Whether you are a breeder, trainer, farrier, vet, jockey, or you work in a racing yard, at a racecourse in any capacity or in one of the countless other roles which help this sport contribute £4.1 billion to the UK economy each year, these affordability checks have the potential to threaten your livelihood.

"Racecourses and our industry as a whole play a crucial role in the communities they serve and operate in and it is no exaggeration to draw the conclusion that, ultimately, the very many local businesses which also thrive as a part of these racing communities will be put at significant risk too."

Nor does Truesdale believe the checks will actually address the issue they have been designed to tackle.

He said: "If you introduce these blanket checks as they have been proposed, all it will actually do is create issues and friction for people, most of whom bet perfectly responsibly.

"It won't actually address the challenges faced by problem gamblers, given that it is a habit-forming activity. Those betting safely will give up or turn to the black market, creating further problems in an unregulated environment, while those who don't have the means to fund their gambling will simply find another way to bet.

"We would like to see a much more targeted system of checks, which specifically respond to other markers of harm rather than just a blanket affordability check that will do nothing to address the underlying issue."

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.

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