UK racing to cancel all scheduled races on September 10 in opposition of betting duty proposal

A Treasury plan to align duty rates for sports betting and gaming products has prompted Britain’s racing industry to suspend all scheduled fixtures on September 10, escalating opposition to a measure that operators say could make racing less competitive against higher-margin gambling products.

The suspension will cancel races at Uttoxeter, Lingfield, Kempton, and Carlisle, resulting in an estimated £700,000 (US$948,014) loss to the industry.

The move was agreed following cooperation between Jockey Club Racecourses, which operates Kempton and Carlisle; Arena Racing Company, which runs Uttoxeter and Lingfield; and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the sport’s governing body.

Gambling on games of chance is taxed at 21% of an operator’s gross profits. Meanwhile, the duty on betting, including racing, sports, and other events without a fixed profit margin for the operator, is set at 15%.

There is an additional charge of 10% of gross profits for bets on UK racing for the statutory Levy, which has returned money to racing since off-course betting was legalised in the early 1960s.

The proposal to equalize duty rates was introduced during the Conservative government of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and carried forward by the Labour government. A consultation process closed in July.

Betting and gaming have been taxed separately since the Betting and Gaming Act of 1961. Racing organizations maintain that raising duty on sports betting to the same level as gaming would increase operator costs and reduce the attractiveness of wagering on racing compared with fixed-margin gaming products.

Alternatives have also been suggested. The Social Market Foundation think tank proposed raising gaming duty to 50% and sports betting duty to 25%, along with changes to the Levy system to ensure racing revenue would be maintained.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has separately called for higher taxes on fixed-margin gaming products.

Launching the BHA’s campaign against the proposal last month, acting chief executive Brant Dunshea said that the sport’s stakeholders were “united in their opposition to the Treasury’s proposals to harmonise remote gambling duties.”

“If the chancellor delivers this tax bombshell at the autumn budget, not only will jobs be lost but the future of Britain’s second-largest spectator sport will be in jeopardy," he added. "This is why it is vital that the government carefully considers the argument made by all British racing’s stakeholders and works alongside us to protect a cherished national institution.”

The September 10 cancellations are expected to be rescheduled into other race cards. The date falls one day before the start of the St. Leger meeting at Doncaster, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, attended last year.