Following a Board meeting this morning BHB Chairman, Peter Savill, said:

“After a lengthy review of the current position in respect of the Go Racing contract, the Board unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of Racing for it to continue to operate an open direct licensing policy for all users of its pre-race data. This is the only way that the BHB can ensure the satisfactory commercial replacement of the levy across all platforms and all jurisdictions as has been its stated strategy for some time.

“The BHB has a legal obligation to make its data available in order to satisfy consumer demand and Go Racing will itself be offered a direct licence for both its media and betting operations. The RCA has agreed to seek appropriate changes to the Go Racing contract which will require minor structural alteration to accommodate BHB policy. We therefore have every reason to believe that Go Racing will be able to fully exploit the picture rights of the 49 racecourses with whom it has contracted.

“The BHB is satisfied that this policy will ensure the protection of Racing’s core betting shop income stream by maintaining control of the policy and terms under which its data is licensed for the benefit of the whole industry.

“The RCA Chairman, Keith Brown, and I have agreed that BHB and RCA will continue to work towards agreement on the Future Funding Plan and the pooling of rights for other income streams including Licensed Betting Offices”.