Latest news with #BettingAndGamingCouncil
The Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Charities share staggering £450,000 donation following Royal Ascot BGC pledge
A host of top UK charities will share a remarkable £450,000, thanks to Betting and Gaming Council members. For the sixth year on the spin, the BGC announced that its members will give away every penny of profit from win and each-way bets on the Britannia Stakes at last week's Royal Ascot meeting. 3 Champion jockey teamed up with Saeed bin Suroor to ride Arabian Story to victory in Thursday's race, staving off the threat of La Botte to win by a neck. In a race with 30 runners - coming on a day where FIVE favourites landed - the winner coming in at 15/2 wasn't necessarily a win for the bookmakers, given only three runners - including La Botte - went off shorter odds. But it's that competitiveness in the packed race that ensured the bookmakers remained in profit across the race and that is terrific news for the charities. Prostate Cancer UK, Missing People, the SAS Regimental Association, Ascot Racecourse Supports, Racing to School, Greenhouse Sports and Tempus Novo will all now benefit from the stunning £450,000 donation. That donation coming from BCG members, including Flutter (Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet), Entain (Ladbrokes, Coral), Evoke (888 William Hill), Kindred (Unibet), Betway, Rank Group (Grosvenor Sport), Virgin Bet, LivescoreBet, Star Sports and QuinnBet - as well as with the support of Tote and Bet with Ascot. The final figure now takes the total amount raised through this very initiative to an astonishing £3.6million for charitable causes. Including other campaigns, the BGC has now raised a whopping £6.5 million for good causes since its formation back in 2019. While BGC members also help fund horseracing, with a remarkable £350m a year through sponsorship, media rights and the betting levy. Grainne Hurst, CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council, said: 'It's brilliant to see BGC members once again coming together to support such a wide range of charities that make a real difference in communities right across the UK. "A huge thank you goes to all our members who took part, their customers who placed a bet on the Britannia Stakes, and of course to Ascot for their continued partnership in this important initiative. "Together, we've now raised over £3.6 million through the Britannia Stakes alone, and more than £6.5 million overall. These substantial donations highlight the real commitment of the BGC and its members to supporting charities across sport, racing, health, and the veteran community. "We know how much this funding means to the organisations involved, and we're incredibly proud to play our part in supporting the incredible work they do." Jo Youle OBE, Chief Executive of Missing People said: 'Thank you to the Betting and Gaming Council, and its members, for the incredible generosity for Missing People via the Britannia Stakes. 'Someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK. Your support means the charity can be there for people in crisis who are missing, and for families still searching. No matter what the situation, this donation will mean that vital information, guidance and support will be available when it is needed most, and for however long it takes. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this possible." Felicity Barnard, Chief Executive at Ascot Racecourse, added: 'We are delighted to play host to this brilliant initiative which continues to raise vital funds and awareness for charities. The monies raised are helping our Ascot Racecourse Supports charity/community programme make a real difference to the many local and equine organisations that we support.' Prostate Cancer UK Chief Executive Laura Kerby said: 'We're proud of our long-term relationship with the Betting and Gaming Council and are hugely grateful to them and their members for this generous donation on such a prestigious day of racing. 'Prostate cancer is now the most common cancer in England and a disease that affects 1 in 8 men, but an early diagnosis could save your life. 'For several years now the BGC have helped us raise crucial awareness, and substantial funds which will make a massive difference to men affected by prostate cancer. Funds raised will support our groundbreaking screening trial, TRANSFORM, which will find the best way to screen men for the disease - so that one day, all men will be invited for regular tests, and more men will find it early enough to be cured. Thanks to everyone for their continued support.' Steve Freer, Tempus Novo CEO added: 'We are absolutely delighted and deeply honoured to be part of this prestigious event at Royal Ascot. Our sincere thanks go to the Betting and Gaming Council for their generous support. 'The funding we've received is making a tangible, lasting impact. Every penny is helping to drive transformational change in the criminal justice system by supporting people with convictions into sustainable employment. This is critical work—without these opportunities, many are left with little choice but to return to crime upon release. 'Thanks to this support, we're seeing lives changed, futures rebuilt, and a real shift in how rehabilitation can work in practice.' John Blake, CEO of Racing to School said: 'The beneficiaries, Trustees, and small staff team at Racing to School are hugely grateful to the Betting and Gaming Council, its members, and everyone who enjoyed a bet on this year's Britannia Stakes for their generosity. If you didn't back the winner, we hope you still enjoyed the thrill of watching the race in the knowledge that you have supported Racing to School and the six other beneficiary charities to continue their work. 'The funds will have an immediate impact to support the learning of some of the 17,500 participants of our Education Programmes who will take their first steps onto a racecourse this year which, we hope, will spark the beginning of a lifelong love of the sport.' Greenhouse Sports CEO, Don Barrell, said: 'We're incredibly grateful to the Betting and Gaming Council for selecting Greenhouse Sports as a beneficiary of this year's Britannia Stakes – and to everyone whose bets helped raise an incredible amount for charity. 'Like everyone at Royal Ascot, we believe in the power of sport. But for the young people we work with, it's about more than the game – it's about having a trusted adult in their corner. 'Our full-time Coach-Mentors are embedded in schools across some of the UK's most disadvantaged areas. They're there every day, year after year – building relationships, keeping young people engaged in education, boosting confidence, and helping them believe in their future. 'With child poverty at a record high, this support couldn't be more important. It means we can reach more young people – and help transform their life chances. 'Thank you for making that possible.' John Allcock, Secretary of the SAS Regimental Association (SASRA) said, 'We are grateful and humbled by the actions of the bookmaking members of the Betting and Gaming Council in this our 80th anniversary year. 'Extraordinary service creates extraordinary need, requiring extraordinary support. The discreet nature of the association and its support to both veteran and serving membership, and their families are considerable and grow year on year. 'This donation will make a significant difference to the lives of those who have gone (and continue to go), always a little further. We thank you so much.' Remember to gamble responsibly A responsible gambler is someone who: For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Gambling and social media abuse of women in sport - what is going on?
When tennis player Katie Boulter revealed to the BBC the shocking scale of social media abuse she receives on social media, she emphasised that many angry messages feature references to to Signify, which has been working with tennis authorities on detecting abuse through an artificial intelligence-led detection system called Threat Matrix, a significant proportion of abuse sent to tennis players stems from gamblers who have lost the year, a category they call 'angry gamblers' sent 40% of all detected abuse, with messages clearly related to betting activity because of the timing or content of the for a response, a Betting and Gaming Council spokesperson said its members "do not tolerate abuse on social media, which has no place in betting or sport".It added: "It is vital social media companies take swift action against users, and remove offensive content."BBC Sport has looked at what exactly is going on with the relationship between gambling, tennis, women in sport and online abuse. What do we know about gambling in tennis? Tennis tournaments are played all around the world throughout most of the year, making it one of the most popular sports for regular gamblers to bet on.A source at one of the world's largest multi-platform gambling operators told the BBC that more than £100m is bet on tennis matches worldwide each spread of bets is roughly even across men's and women's tennis, tipped slightly higher in favour of the men's game because more matches take place on its Challenger tour, according to this the United Kingdom, 13% of all sports betters gambled on tennis in 2023, meaning the sport ranked fifth behind horse racing, football, golf and boxing, according to a YouGov survey, 16% of tennis gamblers spend over £200 per month on bets, according to the data, and 34% of them use websites which offer loyalty schemes for regular customers. That means some UK tennis gamblers spend big and spend regularly, meaning the stakes are higher when they perhaps provides an indication as to why the abuse Boulter and other players suffer is so often focused around work with around 30 players on moderating their private messages, and the proportion of abuse that comes from 'angry gamblers' is 77%. How does tennis handle gambling sponsorships? As is the case with other sports, the relationship between tennis and gambling has been a source of controversy for many over potential match-fixing and ethics have historically led to a reluctance to form official betting sponsorships have become highly lucrative as gambling has moved online. In an era where high-profile players have campaigned for more prize money and a greater share of sponsor revenue, tennis has begun to demonstrate an increased willingness to work with gambling 2023, 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic said players should be given a higher proportion of the revenue generated from gambling sponsorships in tennis."Personally, I probably would not get a betting sponsor on my sleeve but I know that probably 95+% of the players would do that," Djokovic said. "I would support that, but if that's not allowed then what we would deserve to have is 50% of the share that the tournament gets from these sponsorship deals with betting companies." In February, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced an extension of a deal with Stake - the Curacao-based gambling company which also sponsors sports teams including the Sauber Formula 1 team, and Everton - making it the official betting partner of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King was subsequently found to have broken UK Gambling Commission rules by using pornographic content to promote gambling to young people, and abandoned its licence to operate in the ITF deal remains in place, and the BBC has contacted the governing body for Madrid Open, the Miami Open and Swedish Open are now sponsored by South Africa-based 2023, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) signed a multi-year agreement with online gaming company FanDuel Group, applying to the Tour in North, South and Central WTA also sells its data to the company Stats Perform and the ATP to Sportradar, for them to distribute to licenced betting decision to sell rights in this way was to ensure betting was regulated, replacing the unregulated world of 'courtsiders'. What about women and gambling? Historically, men have represented the majority of gamblers in the UK, but data shows that the proportion of women is Gambling Commission (UKGC) data, external from 2022 found that 42% of women had gambled in the previous four weeks, and that those aged 35 to 54 were most likely to figures also include non-sports forms of gambling like casinos, slot machines and online bingo, but women are targeted by sports betting platforms too.A 2024 survey conducted by Stats Perform found that 44% of betting operators said that they want to grow their number of female the USA, meanwhile, investment bank Morgan Stanley estimates that 32% of sports betters are now the gambling operator which runs Paddy Power, said that 24% of all bets placed through its FanDuel brand during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris were on women's events, with 60% of football bets placed on women's matches and 79% of gymnastics bets on women's events. How much is the UK gambling industry worth? According to the UKGC's latest figures, gambling firms earned revenue of £15.6bn between April 2023 and March 2024, an increase of £0.5bn on the previous means the UK gambling industry is worth more than double the UK music industry (valued at £7.6bn according to UK Music) and video games industry (valued at £7bn according to Equity, the performing arts and entertainment trade union).According to estimates, UK gambling companies spent more than £1.5bn on marketing in recent years, with a large portion of that going to television adverts. This rises to closer to £2bn when sponsorships are factored Office for Health Improvement and Disparities estimates that there are between 117 and 496 gambling-related suicides, external every year in England. Have any new gambling regulations come into effect? There has been a tightening of regulations in recent years in relation to gambling's marketing and sponsorship in relation to sport. They include:The whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling advertisements in football, which was implemented in 2019, prohibiting pre-watershed gambling advertising on TV from five minutes before kick-off until five minutes after full-timeA 2022 update to a rule on appealing to children – prior to the change, gambling adverts could not have "particular" appeal to children, whereas now they cannot have "strong" appeal to childrenLate last year the government announced new plans, including a levy to generate £100m for the research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms, and online slot stake limits of £5 for over 25s and £2 for young adults aged 18 to May the Health and Social Care Committee set out further measures they want the UK government to take in order to better protect people from the possible harms from measures requested include strengthening rules on advertising, taking a risk-based approach to regulation, and to develop a public information campaign addressing the risk of gambling-related suicides.
The Sun
08-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Two-thirds of gamblers would turn to black market betting sites if the Government increased tax rate on horses
TWO thirds of punters say a tax increase on betting such as horse racing will push people to the gambling black market, a shock survey finds. A major change to the way betting and gaming is taxed online is being consulted on by Ministers triggering fears a flutter on racing and football will be more expensive. Sporting betting and online gaming are currently taxed at differing rates but the sector is warning against introducing a single new tax at a higher rate. The survey from the Betting and Gaming Council found that 65 per cent of regular punters would head to unregulated sites where no tax is paid. It comes after a recent study found 1.5 million Brits wager more than £4 billion on the betting black market every year hitting the fragile horse racing industry. The Treasury insist plans are about cutting back on bureaucracy rather than hiking or lowering tax rates. Grainne Hurst, the boss of the Betting and Gaming Council, said: 'This shocking statistic proves what's at stake if the Government forces through a self-defeating tax hike on ordinary punters. 'It's clear it will not raise more tax, it simply risks forcing huge numbers of customers out of the regulated market, with its world leading standards on player safety, into the arms of the growing, illegal, unregulated and unsafe gambling black market online. 'Any tax rises would make a mockery of the Government's growth strategy and be catastrophic for horseracing, which is already facing a bleak financial outlook. 'This is a wake up call for Government, punters have been loud and clear, hit them with further taxes and they will walk away from sports like racing, straight to the black market, triggering a spiral of decline.' Currently, there is a distinction between general betting which is taxed at 15 per cent and remote gaming which has grown hugely in recent years which is taxed at 21 per cent. Ministers are looking at bringing in a new single remote gambling tax with industry figures fearing it could be at the higher rate. A Treasury spokesperson said: 'We are consulting on bringing the treatment of online betting in line with other forms of online gambling to cut down bureaucracy - it is not about increasing or decreasing rates. 'During this consultation we welcome views from all stakeholders including businesses, trade bodies, the third sector and individuals.' 1
