The British Horseracing Authority’s CEO Paul Bittar praised the new four-year levy deal as a ‘good result for racing’. Speaking to the Racing Post newspaper, Bittar said that it would be ‘naive’ to think that the betting industry had got the better end of the deal, which will see betting firms Ladbrokes, Coral, William Hill and Betfred make additional voluntary payments of £4.5m per year into a newly created incentive fund, with effect from April 2014.
The fund will be managed by a new distribution group comprising representatives of the Levy Board, racing and the four bookmakers, who will advise the board on how best to distribute the funds. Discussing the deal Bittar added that the extra money did not represent the lack of offshore betting contributions.
“[This arrangement] has shown that racing and betting can come together in constructive discussions and actually reach a pretty sensible outcome for the sport,” he added.
source : www.totallygaming.com
