Councillors fear proposed TV betting ad ban would damage Tipperary's three racecourses

Tipperary County Council has written to the Minster for Law Reform highlighting its elected members’ concerns that a proposed ban on betting adverts on television between the hours of 5.30am and 9.30pm would have an adverse impact on Tipperary’s three racecourses.

The letter was sent to Minister of State James Browne in response to a motion passed at the council’s December meeting requesting the local authority to express concern to the minister about the consequences of the proposal contained in the Gambling Regulation Bill for Clonmel, Tipperary and Thurles race courses and the local economy.

The horse racing industry fears a pre-watershed ban would threaten broadcasting coverage of the sport, damage racetrack revenues and ultimately horse ownership.

Horse Racing Ireland, which has a media rights deal with two dedicated racing channels, has warned if the advertising ban is introduced it would not be viable to broadcast the channels in Ireland on a separate stream from that which is broadcast in the UK. This means they would effectively be blocked from Irish airwaves.

Fine Gael Cllr Michael Fitzgerald, who tabled the motion, said there were people genuinely worried about the survival of rural racecourses if this legislation is enacted in its current form.

He pointed out that horse racing generates €2.46 billion a year in Ireland and was a significant activity in county Tipperary where there are 800 horse breeders and 70 horse trainers as well as a lot of people working as jockeys and stable staff. The total attendance at Tipperary racing tracks was just over 50,000 people.

The Golden councillor stressed he fully supported the Gambling Regulation Bill’s provisions to protect those at risk of gambling addiction but he was concerned at the risk of some “serious unintended consequences”.

He contended that the 5.30am to 9.30pm ban on TV betting advertising currently proposed in the bill would mean racing TV wouldn’t be able to continue in Ireland.

“It would create an incredible anomaly that a British based owner and breeder could watch their horse running in Ireland but an Irish owner couldn’t. The loss of TV exposure in Ireland would damage each of our racecourses,” he said before naming the county’s three racecourses.

Cllr Fitzgerald said this advertising ban was akin to saying everyone who goes into a pub to have a drink to enjoy themselves was an alcoholic. “That is not the case and that is what we have to be very careful of. This bill needs to be amended,” he declared.

Support for the motion was voiced by councillors of Independent, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin political colours on the council as well as Cllr Fitzgerald’s fellow FG councillor and brother John.

Independent Newcastle Cllr Máirín McGrath said she believed the Gambling Regulation Bill “leaves a lot to be desired” and pointed to how the National Lottery was exempted from this proposed advertising despite the fact that it’s the “most popular and accessible” form of gambling.

She said the horse racing industry feared the advertising ban will mean the specialist racing channels won’t be able to broadcast in Ireland because it won’t be economically viable for them. The impact this would have on the local economy needed to be recognised.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Roger Kennedy from Cashel agreed the Bill’s proposed advertising ban would have unintended consequences and described it as a “retrograde step”. He said the Bill needed to be amended to take cognisance of the huge number of people who enjoy racing and enjoy watching it on television and don’t ever have a gamble.

Carrick-on-Suir Sinn Féin Cllr David Dunne said it was important to support the motion due to the importance of horse racing to Tipperary and all associated with the sport in the county. He argued that what needed to be tackled was the ease of online gambling at any time of the day or night and gambling machines in betting offices.