'We believe punters are going to the black market' - BHA chief backs John Gosden's affordability checks warning

John Gosden's claim that affordability checks are already pushing racing bettors towards the unregulated black market was backed by the BHA on Tuesday.

The Gambling Commission is consulting on proposals that would force operators to conduct financial risk checks on customers who lose as little as £125 in 30 days or £500 in a year, with more extensive checks kicking in for those with net losses of £1,000 in 24 hours or £2,000 in 90 days. 

Bookmakers have already been forced to broaden their social responsibility and anti money-laundering policies to include affordability checks at varying levels under the threat of heavy sanctions from the commission, which Gosden said had opened the door to the black market.

Speaking at a media briefing, BHA chief executive Julie Harrington reiterated the potential impact of losing customers to unlicensed operators who offer no protection to punters and contribute no money to the government through taxation or to British racing through the levy and media rights. 

"A huge amount of work has been undertaken globally around the factual existence of the black market, the volumes that are going through, well-funded academic research," said Harrington. "Of course, we shared the facts of that existence with our colleagues at the Gambling Commission.

"We believe there are punters going to the black market. We've also done our own survey of punters and it's really good to gather evidence to show the government and Gambling Commission how many of our regular fans have been approached by unlicensed operators and followed up on it.

"Anecdotally, we work with owners and a lot of them have let us share their case studies with the Gambling Commission about being approached by black market operators. We've been able to provide a mixture of anecdotal and academic evidence."

The 2024 fixture list was published on Tuesday and included a number of significant changes, such as the introduction of 170 Premier racedays, designed to increase fan engagement, improve revenues and retain owners against the backdrop of declining attendances and betting turnover.

John Gosden: voiced fears of punters resorting to the black market because of affordability checksCredit: Alan Crowhurst

According to the BHA, industry modelling estimated the sport's finances would improve by £90 million over the five-year period from 2024 to 2028 as a result of its industry strategy work compared with a scenario in which nothing was done and in which revenues would continue to decline.

In April, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport presented an impact analysis of the economic cost to racing of affordability checks when it published the white paper. That report claimed that in the first year after the passage of the reforms, the cost to British racing would be between £8.6 and £14.9m.

However, a Racing Post investigation published last week suggested the damage could be as much as three times that amount, the initial impact assessment having failed to account for racing's greater reliance on big-staking punters who would be disproportionately affected by the checks.

On the importance of the fixture list reforms in the context of the likely impact of affordability checks, Harrington added: "We've been carrying out this work in an environment with a huge amount of uncertainty. Being in control of our own destiny and controlling what we can is important."

The Right To Bet survey, which gave punters the chance to provide their views on the implementation of affordability checks, closed on Monday. The BHA, which collaborated on the survey with the Racing Post, At The Races and Racing TV, revealed there had been 14,500 respondents.

To complete the Gambling Commission's consultation on affordability checks, visit racingpost.com/consultation and follow the instructions.

The Racing Post also wants to hear from you: what has been your experience of affordability checks since the white paper was published at the end of April, and what do you think of the government's proposals? Have affordability checks affected your betting behaviour?

It's a chance for your voice to be heard. Email the Racing Post at editor@racingpost.com with the subject 'Affordability checks' to share your experiences, your thoughts about the government's proposals, and your contact details.

Read these next:

John Gosden warns a 'torrent' of bettors are heading to black market in stark warning over affordability checks 

Gambling Commission slammed for 'unacceptable' decision not to release previous affordability consultation results 

The Front Page: what is the truth about affordability checks? 

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