British Racing is delighted to announce it has reached agreement with a number of betting operators under its Authorised Betting Partner (ABP) scheme.
In recent days, 188BET, BetStars, McBookie, SeanieMac and ApolloBet have all agreed to make a suitable level of voluntary contributions to the sport based on their British Racing business.
The agreements follow those already reached with Betfair, bet365, 32red, Sky Betting & Gaming and Bet Victor, who have also committed to making an agreed level of contribution on their remote betting activity to British Racing. British Racing would like to thank all betting operators who have become ABPs, as they are providing vital funding to enable British Racing to continue to deliver competitive and compelling racing for the benefit of betting operators’ businesses and the enjoyment of their customers.
Voluntary contributions under the ABP scheme will help protect the long-term health of the industry. Whilst the Government has committed to replacing the Levy mechanism by April 2017, ABP contributions are vital to delivering interim funding to the sport.
ABPs have agreed to pay contributions to the Levy Board on a quarterly basis for three years, subject to implementation of the Horserace Betting Levy replacement. In return for their commitments, ABPs receive a kitemark and other benefits from British Racing, and a number of commercial entities within Racing, under the partnership, including access to key sponsorships, media opportunities and customer data.
In addition, there are a number of Authorised Betting Partners that remain onshore (and intend to continue to do so) and who therefore pay the Levy at the statutory rate. British Racing appreciates and values their ongoing commitment to making a contribution to the sport from all their operations now and in the future, whether they remain fully onshore or not. The following betting operators are onshore and have agreements in place with British Racing for the duration of the ABP term: Fitzdares, Geoff Banks, Star Sports, Blue Riband Bet, Jack Pearson Ltd, Winning Post and Corbett Bookmakers.
Nick Rust, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), said: “On behalf of British Racing, we warmly welcome all new Authorised Betting Partners. British Racing provides an important product to betting and gaming operators and we are delighted our ABPs recognise the value of a partnership with British Racing. People who bet on British Racing deliver substantial value to betting and gaming operators over and above the gross win generated on Racing. We look forward to working with all ABPs to help them take the opportunity to gain significant exposure to British Racing’s customers.”
BetStars’ Director of Trading, Ian Marmion, said: “As TD of BetStars and a keen horse racing owner, I’m delighted that BetStars has signed to be an Authorised Betting Partner of British Racing. The birth of betting in the UK was driven by horseracing and it’s important that it is given the opportunity to grow and flourish. We are proud to partner with one of the most popular and exciting sports in the world, and feel it’s important that we make our contribution as a new entrant to the sport.”
Nigel Singer, Managing Director of 188BET said: “188BET is pleased to announce it has become an Authorised Betting Partner of British Racing. The opportunity for us to sign an agreement with British Racing reinforces our commitment to British horseracing and continuing to deliver a strong horseracing product for our customers.”
McBookie spokesman Paul Petrie said: “McBookie are delighted to announce that we have become an Authorised Betting Partner of British horseracing. Our interest lies largely with the five racecourses in Scotland and we want to help play a role in ensuring their long-term sustainability through our voluntary payments to racing. The agreement will help cement our relationship with Scottish racing through our contributions to the industry.”
Leon Hosking, Director of Sportsbook and Online SeanieMac Holdings Ltd, said: “We at SeanieMac Holdings and ApolloBet.com are extremely proud to be an Authorised Betting Partner of British Racing. We feel it is important and necessary to get behind ABP as we want to play our part in ensuring the long term growth, sustainability and success of British horseracing.
SeanieMac Holdings recently acquired Apollobet.com and has many exciting new developments to announce over the coming months. Seaniemac.com will be launching a brand new state of the art online sportsbook and gaming platform in August of this year. We believe our new British Racing partnership and Jockey Club sponsorship of over 40 UK race meetings this year shows our commitment to the British horse racing industry, this together with our new platform and acquisition of Apollobet.com shows our intent to become a leading player within the online betting industry. These are exciting times for both British Racing and SeanieMac.com/Apollobet.com and we are looking forward to a long and successful partnership.”
Notes to editors
1. British Racing’s Authorised Betting Partner (ABP) is a voluntary scheme that aims to reward betting operators who commit to making a contribution on their betting activity to fund British racing. In recognition of their support, betting operators are able to use the ABP logo and become eligible for any additional benefits that supporters of the scheme choose to offer to ABPs.
2. Further information about British Racing’s Authorised Betting Partner policy can be found here.
3. Horseracing is Britain’s second largest sport by jobs, revenues and attendances. Overall, it is estimated that there is £10 billion of betting activity annually on British Racing in the United Kingdom. Total attendances across Britain’s 59 racecourses reached 6,129,433 in 2015, which was 309,463 more than 2014 and just 21,810 short of the 2011 record (6,151,243). British Racing has the most terrestrial TV coverage of any sport in the UK and Saturday’s Crabbie’s Grand National was watched by more than 10 million people in the UK.
