Irish minister accuses bookmakers of 'crying' over proposed advertising ban in gambling bill

James Browne, the junior minister responsible for drafting the controversial new Gambling Regulation Bill, has accused the bookmaking industry of "crying out" over restrictions that would prohibit bookmakers' adverts being broadcast on television during a daytime watershed. 

If the legislation is implemented as drafted, it would preclude bookmaker advertising between 5.30am and 9pm, which both Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing have warned will render their racing coverage in Ireland "economically unviable".

High-profile racing personalities such as Ruby Walsh and Jessica Harrington, who have offered their support to the bill's overarching objective of protecting problem gamblers, have warned of the knock-on threat to a racing industry that supports 30,000 jobs should that specific provision be implemented. 

Willie Mullins has also been among those to warn that losing the dedicated racing coverage would ultimately have the opposite effect of driving viewers to open bookmaker accounts to watch racing, as well as feed the black market and the demand for "dodgy boxes". 

However, Fianna Fail TD Browne, a junior minister in the Department of Justice, has compared the coverage of a €2.5 billion industry with that of the broadcasting of low-profile GAA games, and suggested the racing industry was being led by the bookmakers. 

"You see junior football and hurling matches televised live across the country. It is difficult to believe no one is going to televise in some shape or form major horseraces," he told the Irish Sun. 

James Browne: junior minister of state in the Department of Justice

"We’ve seen a leading bookie crying out recently as well. This is a very strong push back by the gambling industry, who are pushing the TV stations and in turn trying to leverage horseracing to try to undermine what is very important public health legislation."

Horse Racing Ireland has previously been criticised by Browne for signing a €47 million media rights deal in May in the knowledge the legislation was in the offing. In the Irish Sun, the minister argues the overall value of the deal would belittle what it would cost broadcasters to split their television feeds. 

He said: "Racing TV say that €2m is what it would cost them. They haven’t shown us any evidence of that cost and I’ve talked to a number of other broadcasters who say it’s very straightforward to split a feed now. A lot of it is just software at this stage. You can split a feed in terms of what advertisements are shown in two different houses beside each other — never mind two countries.

"Even if you accept the €2m — which is questionable — that’s a tiny fraction of a contract worth hundreds of millions of euros and a contract that was entered into in the face of government policy."

Ruby Walsh: warned of devastating impact of gambling advertising banCredit: Edward Whitaker

Walsh has warned it would be the start of the end of the racing industry in Ireland if the channels are forced off air, while trainers Barry Connell and Paul Nolan described it as an "Armageddon situation" and the "beginning of the end" for the sector. The Irish Racehorse Owners Association and the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association have also raised concerns about the unintended consequences of the ad ban. 

However, Browne was inclined to question why the industry has become so reliant on bookmaker support. 

"You’re probably only talking about 15 years ago when advertising in our top horseracing events came from non-gambling companies," he said. "They were sponsored by banks and insurance companies and IT companies.

"I know there’s always been gambling with racing but this thing of being solely reliant on gambling companies is a recent event. There is a question mark there of the business sense of ending up with this narrow dependency on one industry. I think you’d find other companies who will want to go into that ad space."

Browne referenced an Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) paper that suggested one in 30 people in Ireland have a gambling problem. However, he did not address the absence of the National Lottery, which many have noted does not fall under the scope of the legislation.

"We cannot have a situation where the gambling industry continues the way it has been," he said. "It has become a huge public health problem and we’ve seen that with the ESRI report.

"We want to let people gamble safely but also recognise there is a risk every time someone gambles and you can’t identify who is going to become an addict. The person who’s an addict today would have gambled safely at some point. They didn’t become an addict on their first bet."

Since July 12, the bill has been going through the report stage in Dail Eireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament, where amendments arising out of the committee stage are being considered. It will then progress through the final stage in the Dail before going through a similar process in the Seanad prior to being signed into law by the president.

Read more:

Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing may be forced to stop broadcasting in Ireland due to 'devastating impact' of new gambling bill 

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