Nick Rust: affordability checks could cost racing hundreds of millions

Nick Rust has warned the forthcoming gambling review has the potential to cost racing hundreds of millions of pounds in lost levy, media rights and sponsorship.

Rust, who left his position as chief executive of the BHA on Friday, was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday's newspaper, in which he discussed his record, his critics and the future of racing.

His successor Julie Harrington will have to guide the sport through the ongoing fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and the potential consequences of a no-deal Brexit, but Rust said the government's review of gambling laws is likely to prove the biggest threat to racing, with strict new rules on advertising, stakes and affordability checks potentially in the offing. One suggested outcome is anyone losing more than £100 a month could be required to prove their income.

Critics of the proposal have suggested many punters would simply reduce their betting or move their custom to unregulated offshore bookmakers rather than share sensitive financial information with betting operators and accept government checks on personal spending decisions.

Great leader or a letdown? Top racing figures deliver their verdict on Nick Rust (Members' Club subscribers)

"I've seen some initial data suggesting that at one major operator 36 per cent of customers would be affected by that," said Rust, who was a senior executive at Ladbrokes and Coral before joining the BHA in 2015.

"We want to support responsible betting and we don't want to earn any revenue from people who are spending beyond their means. However, it feels to me that we're in danger of trying to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

"We will certainly be putting evidence in as the BHA, and I'm inclined to write privately after I've left the BHA and give my views as well, because I think there's a real danger on this and the sport needs to be alive to it."

Rust added stringent restrictions on betting could cancel out several times over any gains resulting from levy reform, which the government has signalled will be looked at next year.

"The impact on our sport, in terms of the value of betting, media rights, sponsorships, and so on, would be hundreds of millions of pounds potentially," he said.

Read more:

'I'm going to miss it very much' – Nick Rust prepares to step down from BHA helm (Members' Club subscribers)

BHA chair Annamarie Phelps welcomes 'positive' meeting with Number 10 officials (Members' Club subscribers)

Punters' body sounds warning on review's proposed affordability checks

Read more from Nick Rust in the Big Read, available to members from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Join Members' Club here.