Racing United launches to demand Levy cash is boosted

• Industry leaders call on government to act
• Bookies label figures used in case as disingenuous
Racing industry leaders are calling on the government to prevent bookies such as Ladbrokes moving their online business offshore and avoiding paying the Levy. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Racing's sectional interests presented themselves as shoulder-to-shoulder in the fight for more money from the betting Levy today, as the British Horseracing Authority supervised the launch of a new campaign ahead of a possible government determination of the next Levy scheme.

Racing United has the support of organisations representing owners, racecourses, trainers, jockeys, breeders and stable staff. Its charter calls on the government to "close loopholes in the Levy system" that "permit offshore bookmakers to avoid Levy obligations", to ensure that "betting exchanges and their bookmaker (business) users pay a fair commercial return to racing," and ultimately to "ensure that racing's return from the Levy in 2011 is between £130m and £150m".

The return to racing from the betting Levy hit an all-time high two years ago, when the spectacular losses of a single "high roller" Ladbrokes client pushed the yield to £115m. Last year that dropped to £93m, and this year's return is expected to drop again, to about £75m.

However, the break-up of the monopoly on the broadcast of live racing coverage to betting shops has seen a significant rise in the bookmakers' media rights payments, which they argue should be taken into account when assessing how much they contribute to racing.

"If you look internationally at where racing is and where it is currently going, we are getting the equivalent of less than 1% of [bookmakers'] turnover," Paul Struthers, the BHA's director of communications, said today. "In Hong Kong, it's 2%, in France it is 8%, and there are others that are higher than that."

The launch of the Racing United campaign was accompanied by a set of figures from the BHA, entitled "Bookmakers' false claims on increased contributions to racing", which appeared to suggest that, in percentage terms, bookmakers' combined payments have actually increased as a percentage of their gross win on British racing over the last four years, from 12.53% to 14.5%.

However, Struthers said that the figures did not account for the recent decisions of Ladbrokes and William Hill to move their significant internet and telephone businesses offshore.

"We have no way of knowing how much business they are doing through their offshore operations," Struthers said.

"We can either accept that we get what we get and there is absolutely nothing that racing can do about it, and die a slow death, or say no, we don't accept it. There have to be legitimate, viable, legal mechanisms the government can introduce to make sure racing gets a fair return."

Patrick Nixon, the chief executive of the Association of British Bookmakers, said that the BHA was being "disingenuous" in its use of figures, and in particular its comparison of current Levy yield to the freak, high-roller year of 2008.

"They are focusing on the Levy because it is Levy season," Nixon said. "Yes it has gone down, and there are many reasons for that, but we were paying £30m for pictures in 2007.

"Now it is nearly £75m, and SIS has already announced an increase next year. They have lost on the Levy swings, but certainly gained on the media rights roundabout."

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