Flutter boss warns of 'spiral of decline' for Irish racing and black market boom if gambling bill is not amended

The chief executive of Flutter UK and Ireland believes the Irish Gambling Regulation Bill could result in a catastrophic "spiral of decline" for Irish racing and "send thousands of people to the black market" if it is enacted in its current form.

The bill, which has been in the report stage in Dail Eireann since July, includes a controversial watershed on gambling advertising between 5.30am and 9pm, which could render it economically unviable for specialist racing channels to broadcast in Ireland.

While Ian Brown made it clear that Flutter – the parent company of Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair – supports many of the proposals in the bill, he argued that some of the restrictions will cause betting duty to "fall considerably" and drive punters towards unlicensed operators, "where the opportunities for certain people to come to harm is so much greater".

Brown outlined five areas of concern to James Browne, minister of state at the Department of Justice, after they met in April. As well as the looming threat of the black market, alternatives to the potential restrictions on stake limits, inducements, and advertising were put forward.

Brown told the Racing Post: “I’ve known since I first came to Ireland more than 20 years ago how important horseracing is to people here. What I worry much more about here is that the bill – as it’s currently drafted – will send Irish racing into a spiral of decline from which it will never recover.

Ian Brown: sounded stark warningCredit: Jon Enoch

"Betting duty will fall considerably, stake limits may impact the numbers betting on racing, cost pressures will rise. And that’s before we get on to blackouts on TV because broadcasters will be unable to show famous meetings like Cheltenham. Racing supports 30,000 to 40,000 jobs, it’s a very real part of the economy and a really important part of the rural economy. This is too important to get wrong."

In the correspondence sent to Browne, Flutter UKI stressed the importance of ensuring "the legislation strikes a balance between introducing effective protection measures and not making the unlicensed black market too attractive by comparison", while also noting that other jurisdictions are finding it increasingly difficult to dissuade punters from moving to unlicensed operators despite having effective regulation.

"The intent of the bill is to create a regulatory framework for Ireland that clearly sets out what operators should do and aims to keep customers safe," said Brown. "Due to the way it's drafted, we fear it will actually send tens of thousands of people to the black market, into the open arms of unlicensed operators, with whom there are no protections and where the opportunities for certain people to come to harm is so much greater.

"We have our own estimates of the impact of the bill but have asked third parties to look themselves. One, from strategic consultants Regulus, suggests at least 25,000 people who gamble in Ireland will shift to the black market within the first five years. These are frankly very big numbers. We did a search the other day and there are more than 3,600 online gaming operators in English and fewer than 70 are regulated in Ireland, paying tax and applying protections that the bill would ask us to bring in."

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