Corporate hospitality provider Pitch Experiences has warned that a proposed increase in gambling tax from 15 percent to 21 percent will have a knock-on effect on the food and beverage sector.

Speaking to City AM, CEO Neil Bailey said the levy on bookmakers could make both pitchside events and the sports themselves “unaffordable” for punters, as concerns mount across the industry.

“There’s less money around and punters are already being more conservative with their cash,” Bailey told City AM, adding the tax rise “will weaken confidence in the economy from our industry.”

“This summer, some events we would describe as bankers were slightly down in uptake. Some firms saw sales agents returning hospitality for events like the England Test at the Oval, which is almost unheard of – so we need all the help we can get, and this isn’t it.”

Pitch Experiences offers several hospitality packages for races such as Ascot and Cheltenham, part of a wider horseracing industry which the BHA said is responsible for contributing £4.1bn to the UK economy. 

However, Bailey said the proposed levy “feels like a tax on a tax on a tax, and eventually sport could become completely unaffordable for punters.”