British Horseracing Authority racing director Richard Wayman has said he has “no doubt” that financial risk checks were behind a 6.8 percent year-on-year decline in UK betting revenue for 2024, despite the Gambling Commission stating “there is little by way of evidence.”

The British Horseracing Authority has reported that UK betting revenue for 2024 was down 6.8 percent compared to the prior year, with the association’s director of racing levelling the blame at the Gambling Commission’s financial risk check pilot, launched last summer.

In a report published on 19 February, Richard Wayman said he had “no doubt” that the measures – which currently trigger when a player deposits more than £500 per month – were behind the decline.

“In its report, the BHA found that the decline in total betting turnover slowed to under 1 percent in the second half of the year,” reported iGaming Business. “However, it stated that it had run more races in that period when compared to 2023, adding that the ‘average race turnover’ was down by 4 percent in 2024.”

“BHA director of racing Richard Wayman wrote in the report that he has ‘no doubt’ that the drop in betting revenue was “headed by the impact of affordability checks”. Wayman said these have resulted in people either stopping betting or are placing wagers with “unlicensed operators where these checks do not take place.”

In response to the report, a spokesperson for the Commission told iGB: “We note a BHA employee has offered their personal view on the impact of what they describe as ‘affordability’ checks, but there is little by way of evidence provided in the report to support their opinion.”

“As the report states there are likely to be several factors that may impact betting turnover, a number of which have nothing to do with gambling regulation.”