The ongoing battle between punter, bookmaker and the UK government in the affordability checks debate to another twist this week as over 100,000 horse racing fans have now signed the petition to get this stopped.
On Tuesday 28th November the petition hit the magic 100,000 signatures mark, which now means this topic has to be discussed in parliament.
This is good news for the best UK bookmakers and punters who, on the whole, are largely against any financial checks being in place in order to bet on sports they love – like horse racing and football.
However, this doesn’t mean the UK government will now kick the idea into touch – it just means MPs are obliged to debate any petition that surpasses 100,000 signatures.
This step in the right direction will also be welcome news to bookmakers, who heard last week there may be potential online gambling tax rises – outlined in in Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement.
Despite affordability checks not officially in place there have been a number of bookmakers that have still had to act on this based on pressure from the Gambling Commission.
Over 50% Of Bettors Said They’d Bet Less If Affordability Checks Came Into Place
With 25% of bettors that were asked in a recent survey saying they’d been the subject of these affordability measures.
It was also revealed that over 50% of bettors questioned said they would bet less on sports or even not at all if these more tighter affordability checks came common practice.
The British horse racing industry has expressed its concern and is likely to be the biggest sport impacted by the checks. With horse racing relying on betting revenue for funding.
No date has yet been given on when this issue will now be discussed in Parliament.
