UK Gambling Law Review: Horse Racing Funding in Focus

The UK's Gambling Policy Commission (GPC) began its review on 9 November. The commission will assess whether the Gambling Act 2005 meets the needs of a market that has changed with online services and new technologies. For British horse racing, the process offers a chance to have a say in regulations that affect sports funding.

The review will address the remote betting levy and media rights linked to betting turnover, both of which are important for horse racing funding. The commission will also examine whether sports bodies should hold economic rights over betting on their own events, and whether part of the General Betting Duty revenue should be replaced by a statutory Sports Betting Levy.

Commission chair Jagjit Chadha OBE, an economics professor at Cambridge University, noted that the last comprehensive independent review was carried out a quarter century ago. Chadha said that both the betting market and the technological environment have changed significantly since then. The study covers prediction markets, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies. It will also examine illegal online betting and the sanctions in this area.

According to government data, gambling's contribution to UK gross value added was £5 billion in 2024. The sector employed around 75,000 people in 2025. Betting and gaming taxes generated £3.9 billion in the 2025/26 financial year.

The call for evidence closes on 12 February 2027, and the final report is expected to be published in 2028. A Gambling Commission survey found that 2.5 percent of adults who had bet online in the past year had used an illegal site in the four weeks before the survey. Ismail Vali, chair of Gambling Compliance International, warned that the share of people who bet illegally does not mean the share of betting revenue captured by criminal groups. The commission will also consider whether the law should allow individuals to bring legal claims against operators for harm caused by gambling.