Chris Pitt looks back 50 years to when shops were asked to pay for commentaries…
In December 1962 the Racecourse Association received a timely Christmas present from the off-course bookmakers – their acceptance of a scheme which would see them pay some £200,000 a year for racecourse commentaries.
The scheme, due to come into operation on April 1, 1963, would involve bookmakers paying a fee of £45 a year for their first licensed betting shop and £40 for each additional shop. This did not apply to non-licensed offices where business was conducted solely by phone or post.
Although the estimated number of betting shops was 15,000, only around 4,000 felt sufficiently disposed to subscribe to the service. Those who elected to opt out would be disconnected from the commentary.
Brigadier A V Bird, secretary of the Racecourse Association, told the Sporting Life: “There is no doubt in the view of the Association that the race commentary is an additional attraction to the public to frequent a betting shop and, bearing in mind the fact that the decline in attendances on racecourses is undoubtedly being accelerated by the advent of betting shops, the Association consider courses are fully justified in seeking payment for a service arising directly out of the spectacle which they promote.
“The Association fully appreciates the substantial contribution which bookmakers are making to the racing industry through the levy, and it has never been our intention to impose an unfair burden on them.”
That, insisted the Brigadier, was why the charge had been fixed at what he called a “very low figure.”
Furthermore, it would be a condition of the agreement that the scale of charges would not be increased for seven years.
The funds made available to the Association would, said the Brigadier, enable racecourses to meet the ever-increasing rise in operational expenses in the face of declining attendances and would help them to run as sound commercial concerns – an objective which, he added, was obviously in the interests of the bookmaking profession.
Brigadier Bird expressed himself “very pleased” that the Association’s negotiations with bookmakers’ representatives had reached a satisfactory conclusion.
“They didn’t see eye-to-eye with us at first,” he acknowledged, “but I wish to emphasise that there is no question of our feeling we have had a victory over anybody.
“This has been a negotiated agreement which we think is fair to all concerned and we sincerely hope that all bookmakers will support the scheme.”
However, the scheme was at risk of being strangled at birth had others had their way.
A headline in the Sporting Life on November 16, 1962, carried an MP’s suggestion to the Home Secretary to:
‘Close bet shops in race hours’.
And the Home Secretary didn’t say he wouldn’t.
James Dance, Conservative Minister for Bromsgrove, had told Home Secretary Henry Brooke in the House of Commons that people connected with racing, including many prominent bookmakers, felt that magistrates had been far too lenient in the granting of shop licenses.
“Since the betting shops have been open attendances at racecourses have dropped considerably,” he said amid laughter – he was chairman of Birmingham Racecourse Company so may have been perceived as having a vested interest – and he asked: “Would you consider a suggestion that betting shops should not be allowed to be open during the hours of racing?”
Brooke replied: “I will take into account everything you have said.”
Another betting shop-related issue was raised by J P Price, the Labour Minister for West Houghton, who said that he had repeatedly warned that current legislation would lead to a great increase of gambling by women during shopping expeditions and would also lead to continuous betting. These fears, he maintained, had been completely realised.
“This is a great social evil and some restraint ought to be imposed,” said Price.
To gales of laughter and cries of ‘Oh’, Brooke replied: “I have no personal information about what women do when they go out shopping.”