Racing Queensland confirms product fee hike
Flat fee on fixed-odds races raised to 2% rather than 2.5% as expected " Betfair hit hard by larger exchange betting increase
Operators taking bets on race meets in Queensland will be subject to increased product fees after the Australian state’s racing body confirmed its revised rates today.
However the new rate of 2% of turnover for standard race meets, up from 1.5%, is less than the 2.5% of turnover previously proposed by Racing Queensland.
‘Premium’ race meets including the Melbourne Cup will be subject to a 3% turnover tax, down from the expected 3.5%.
Meanwhile exchange betting operators including Betfair are hardest it and will be subject to a 2.5% fee for standard race meets and 3.5% for premium meets.
The changes do not affect Tatts Group, who last week revealed a new AU$150m deal to pay a new annual AU$15m fixed product fee to Racing Queensland, as well as a 2.5% share of fixed-price sports betting revenue from its retail outlets.
Racing Queensland said the revised fees would attract an additional AU$7-8m each year to help sustain the industry and better protect jobs.
The revised figures follow a similar move by Racing Victoria which raised its fees to 3% of turnover – or 30% of gross profits “ an increase on the previous figure of 2% of turnover. The new rate is fixed for a 12-month period from 1 July.
The racing body has a funding hole to plug after Tabcorp fell short of its year two target of a three-year deal which sees the bookmaking giant pay AU$1bn in fees between now and the end of 2015.