Exclude horse racing from affordability checks?
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28 Dec 2024 •
Reading time: 2 minutes Matt Zarb-Cousin, co-founder and director of external affairs at Gamban, recently expressed his desire to see horse racing excluded from the new affordability checks introduced by the UK Gambling Commission. This stance rekindles the debate on the need for a differentiated regulatory approach to protect consumers while preserving less risky sectors.
A necessary distinction between online gambling and horseracing
According to Zarb-Cousin, horse racing should be distinguished from other forms of online gambling, such as casinos and slot machines, so that they are not subject to the same regulations.
Speaking on the Barstewards Enquiry podcast, he said, ‘I think horse racing needs to get as far away as possible from online casino, [which] is bringing the industry down.’
He added that the failure to separate these sectors had led to unnecessary constraints on race betting.
Controversial affordability checks
In August 2024, the Gambling Commission launched a pilot financial risk checking programme, applying enhanced checks to players with monthly deposits of £500 or more. This threshold will be lowered to £150 or more in February 2025.
These checks cover the main operators in the UK and are based on credit agencies. However, they have been strongly criticised, particularly by the horseracing industry, which believes that they penalise a public that is less exposed to the risks of addiction.
Economic impact and criticism of the Gambling Commission
The Jockey Club estimates that these measures could cost the British industry more than £250 million over the next five years.
Zarb-Cousin also criticises the Gambling Commission for its lack of precision in the guidelines, leading to inconsistent implementation.
‘The problem we have at the moment is the Gambling Commission describes itself as an outcome-based regulator, […] but it’s not explaining how it expects operators to conduct these checks,’ he explained.
Appropriate regulation for horse racing
Zarb-Cousin argues that betting on horse races should be treated differently from online gambling. He suggests the creation of a separate licence or platform to avoid intrusive controls while providing a suitable framework.
He points out that current regulations lead to ineffective and intrusive controls, which vary from one operator to another.
‘We’ve seen very, very intrusive checks that have not been effective.’
Zarb-Cousin’s proposal aims to protect consumers while safeguarding horseracing from overly strict regulation, deemed unsuitable for its risk profile. The debate continues between horse racing advocates and regulators, with the aim of finding a compromise between protecting players and the economic survival of the industry.