Ladbrokes boss fears for racing’s future 27/01/2010 |
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Ladbrokes chief executive Chris Bell has warned that horse racing is in danger of "disappearing below the waves" if action is not taken quickly to boost the sport’s popularity.
Bell made his comments as he released a report on the betting industry's contribution to the British economy, which has been assessed at £6bn in gross value added by Deloitte.
"We do support the Racing For Change initiative," he said of the sport’s latest scheme to attract new audiences. "My plea has always been, could it just be a little bit faster, please? It's no good if it's pulled by a shire horse. We need Nijinsky out there and get the damned thing going.
"People used to start betting by betting on horse racing. They'd knock off their shift at 2pm and they'd go up to the ¬betting shop, or, if you were in the colliery, they used to have a bookie's runner at the top of the mine shaft.
"These days, nine out of 10 people who start betting do it on a machine or a virtual product. I don't say that with glee. That's why I say we have to move faster. Speed is of the essence, here. We can't afford too many more ¬meetings. We need something to get our hands around.”
Rod Street, project manager of Racing For Change, responded by saying that getting such a big project off the ground takes time, but he insisted that the pace of change would now pick up.
"It needed significant consultation among our stakeholders before we could take anything forward and that's why the early pace has been slow,” he added.
"But now we have general support for ¬broadening the appeal of racing and ¬taking measures to underpin the health of the sport, so the pace will pick up. The racing world will be getting used to regular announcements and we will have something more in a few weeks' time. The train is now moving."
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