British racing, bookmakers look to government after Levy talks break down

Talks between UK online bookmakers and racing officials to establish a new race betting levy have broken off, with each side pinning the blame squarely on the other.

On Saturday, the Horserace Betting Levy Board and Bookmakers’ Committee officially abandoned efforts to work out a deal on the 55th Levy scheme, which is set to take effect on April 1, 2016. The responsibility has now been lateraled to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which will attempt to play Solomon and slice up this baby in a way that satisfies both parties (or pisses them off equally, take your pick).

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) had been seeking a 10.75% cut of racing revenue from retail betting operators and 7.5% from online operators. The online rate would have risen to 8.25% in the 56th scheme and to 9% in the 57th.

The bookies had reportedly countered with a flat sum offer covering the next four years. The proposed sum reportedly worked out to a rate slightly over 4% of revenue but this would decline over time as more and more race bettors opted to wager online.