By Nathan Stevens
It is terribly sad that both Wales and Scotland voted to ban greyhound racing (round an oval track) last week.
What’s even more sad is such a great sport becoming nothing more than collateral in dodgy political deals and virtue-signalling legislation; despite data suggesting the reasons for a ban are unfounded.
It looks unlikely but hopefully sense prevails and the appeal for a judicial review in Wales is successful.
The GBGB are often criticised for not being proactive but now is as good time as any to get on the front foot and give the sport the best chance of survival.
Welfare concerns
With mainstream media highlighting welfare concerns, the GBGB should be insisting that any further improvements in welfare are not restricted by desire, but by money.
There’s no two ways about it, levy reform is necessary for the future of the sport.
We need to be smashing down the doors of parliament to get it.
How can a regulator be funded by a voluntary levy on turnover when the bookmakers are so quick to restrict it?
Parity with horse racing would be a good start: a compulsory 10% of gross gambling yield, which was good enough in the government’s eyes to exempt them from upcoming tax rises.
A quick calculation on last year’s figures shows that under this model, the sport would have received just over £20 million – a far cry from the £6.75 million that bookmakers voluntarily paid to the BGRF.
Just think what good that extra money could do. Of course; I have a few ideas myself, as I’m sure the readers of this column do too.
Get the crowds back
Listen to fans of the sport, try their ideas, whatever it takes to bring big crowds back to the tracks.
To improve welfare, it’s time for a real crackdown. I’d like to see a task force set up to dig into track specific injury/fatality data, implementing targeted interventions for each track.
We need to come down hard on anyone who doesn’t abide by the highest possible welfare standards; let’s show the nation we’re serious about it.
As a sport, we seem to talk the talk, but not all walk the walk.
We’ve come so far as a sport but we should constantly be striving to do better by these fantastic animals.
Shout from rooftops
When we get it right, let’s shout it from the rooftops. The public’s perception of the sport, overall, is still nowhere near the reality. A proper PR campaign could change that.
A brilliant campaign went live last March, “adopt a sporting legend” featuring ex England rugby star Joe Marler.
Greyhound adoptions were reportedly up 37% for the first half of last year, compared to 2024.
How many dogs could find their forever homes thanks to a proper national advertising campaign?
It works. Do more of it. Solve the homing crisis.
Turn the tide
A commercial arm could be set up to grow the sport, turning the tide on decades of decline.
Remember the buzz around last year’s Derby thanks to the brilliant work done by Gone To The Dogs? That could become permanent.
An increase in interest and attendance will also be good for bookmakers.
Hopefully they would start to take the sport seriously again, rather than being a cheap but highly profitable filler product.
Betting markets
Some imagination could see new betting markets introduced.
Look at the explosion of bet builder type bets in other sports, they’re hugely popular and promote a deeper interest in the sport.
An industry run multi-leg bet, akin to the Scoop6, has been touted before and is something I, for one, would be happy to play regularly.
Greyhound racing is a sport that’s barely changed since it was founded, I would consider that a failure.
Darts, for example, has gone from a few hundred people in a smoky hall to sell-out crowds and millions in prize money.
Surely seeing immaculate canine athletes strut their stuff is better to watch than blokes with beer bellies throwing pointy things at the wall.
I guess this is a plea for the GBGB to stop being so lackadaisical – we find ourselves in a pivotal moment for the sport’s future.
Who knows, a little bit of effort might see us through another century.
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