Sports Betting News: Premier Greyhound Racing Link-up With Sky Sports

Premier Greyhound Racing (PGR) has secured an exclusive agreement to broadcast greyhound racing on Sky Sports Racing from January 1, 2024. 
 
The daily coverage of action from PGR tracks will be hosted on a dedicated red button channel, which will be accessible behind the main racing service. 
 
Read on as we look at this exciting development for greyhound racing, before assessing some of the other top news stories in the sports betting industry this week. 

The link-up between PGR and Sky Sports is designed to boost the profile of the sport, which has historically struggled to gain mainstream broadcast coverage. 
 
PGR has invested heavily in data tools to support the coverage which includes enhanced graphics for form, statistics analysis, race cards, predictors and bet prompts. 
 
Every PGR race will also be streamed live on the new greyhounds.attheraces.com website – a move which should significantly increase turnover greyhound racing turnover on UK betting sites. 

The Horserace Betting Levy Board’s annual report for 2022/23 has revealed that the statutory levy income paid by bookmakers was £100 million. 
 
This is the first time that the landmark has been reached since British racing's central funding system was reformed to include bookmakers based overseas. 
 
However, the news came with a caveat, with the report also highlighting that annual turnover on racing fell compared to the previous reporting period. 

A report by the cross-party Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has told the government that proposed betting affordability checks should be ‘minimally intrusive’. 
 
They have raised concerns about the impact the checks could have on betting sites and highlighted the damage they could cause to the British racing industry. 
 
The report has also called for horse racing and greyhound racing to be treated as special cases with regards to the potential implementation of legislation covering gambling advertising.