The new British racing betting right announced Mar. 3 took on further substance Wednesday when the Department for Media, Culture and Sport published a timeline on the scheme.
The betting right, which will for the first time apply to all bookmakers including those based offshore, will go through a consultation period in the spring, when betting and racing industries will inform the contributions from betting.
A state aid notification process with the European Commission will follow in the summer and autumn, and statutory legal documents will be published at the end of the year, with the scheme set to begin in April 2017.
“British racing welcomes today's further detail and timetable from the Government on the implementation of a replacement for the Levy by April 2017,” said British Horseracing Authority Chief Executive Officer Nick Rust. “This reinforces Government's commitment to achieving a fair, enforceable and sustainable return from all betting activity on our sport. In particular, we welcome Government's clear statement that its aim is 'to restore to racing a fair contribution from all operators, which has been lost to racing simply because of the shift towards offshore remote betting.'”
Rust added, “We will continue to engage constructively with the Government and the betting industry on achieving the timetable set out in today's announcement, while continuing to innovate and grow our sport as the world's best and most natural betting product.”
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