Cruddace Warns of Loss With Affordability Checks

British racing faces losing as much as £100 million if strict affordability checks on betting are introduced, with Arena Racing Company chief executive Martin Cruddace warning such a move is "simply a mistake."

Senior figures in the sport had put the annual loss at closer to £60 million but Cruddace stated Jan. 31 that such estimates were conservative and that up to 70% of punters on horseracing would reject having to prove they could afford a net gambling loss of £100 a month.

Cruddace, a former Betfair executive, warned that the Gambling Commission needed to be careful not to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" with its consultation into remote customer interaction, with racing potentially damaged as an unintended consequence.

Cruddace said: "We need to do everything we can to protect problem gamblers but we need to be very careful to effectively not throw the baby out with the bathwater with the detriment of horseracing as an unintended consequence of the affordability consultation. 

"The headline is six or seven out of every 10 horseracing punters will not go through these affordability checks. (Therefore) I think it's probably more likely to be £100 million (financial loss) and it's basically a reduction to the levy on a pro rata turnover reduction, as well as a reduction to media rights which are charged to turnover as well.

"I've done those calculations and £60 million is the absolute conservative figure if we are right that 60-70% of people betting would not go through the affordability checks."

A Gambling Commission consultation is being undertaken separately to the United Kingdom government's review into the 2005 Gambling Act, and among the toughest actions mooted is imposing a threshold on net monthly gambling loss at as little as £100, which would lead to customers having to provide evidence they could afford to lose more.

Professional punter Neil Channing warned this week that such checks were an "existential threat" to racing, adding: "I think horseracing literally might not exist because of this."

Racing figures have also been mobilizing in an attempt to express their concerns for the sport's finances if strict affordability checks are brought into place, with MPs who have racecourses and racing interests in their constituency contacted by the sport to alert them to racing's concerns about the consultation. 

Chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak, who has Catterick in his constituency, has contacted his cabinet colleague Oliver Dowden, secretary of state for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, which oversees gambling and racing, as a result.

Cruddace believes the focus of the Gambling Review and the Gambling Commission's consultation needs to be on slowing the speed of play and also ensuring the unregulated black market does not gain a larger foothold in the UK betting market.

Speaking on Sky Sports Racing, he said: "There does need to be intervention at some stage and affordability is one way, but to look at the blunt instrument of affordability in isolation is simply a mistake.

"For me, speed of play is a really key thing and you have to look at that as a marker of harm, and that's what the Gambling Review should look at. There is an argument that there's a difference between a sports bet with intervals where you study the form and have a view compared to a fast speed of play product."

Drawing a distinction between betting on sport, such as racing, and online casino games was also highlighted by Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm.

"I love a bet on the horses, I've not got a problem with it, and I would say the gambling industry owes the horse sector because without them they would not have a sector," she told Sky Sports Racing.

"I am not a prohibitionist. I just want to make sure those who are extremely vulnerable, and children, are protected from the dangers of addiction. The vulnerable and children have to be protected."