These tweets will look at the impact that the media has had on betting and the role they have played. I am going to split it up into television and written press at this stage. Lets start with the television media. It will primarily be looking at Horse Racing coverage.
The reason I want to look at the role of the Horse Racing media really relates to what they have and haven’t done for the betting industry and in particular punters. Racing is one of the few sports so intrinsically linked to betting that very few shows don’t mention betting within them.
That just doesn’t happen with any other sport (excluding Greyhounds) and hence the focus on Racing. One of my absolute pet hates has been the utterly wilful ignorance of the racing media towards the situation relating to betting and punters. In particular I am thinking of the impending affordability checks but it is certainly not limited to that. There are the issues with account restrictions, verification fiascos, slow withdrawals, palpable errors, SPs, free bet offers, etc. When I first started out in the industry the impression was given that if you were good enough you had a chance to win.
The sight of John McCririck on your TV was something to behold and left you captivated. He had an incredible passion for the betting side of things at a time where information was pretty thin on the ground. As the internet took off there was a subtle shift away from the likes of John McCririck.
We suddenly had the dreaded bookmaker representatives on every show telling us about some offer they had, some bet they had laid or where the current ‘smart’ money was going. The shows had gone from a Horse Racing show to an advertisement for the bookmakers.
Our TVs were full of some of the most arrogant individuals you could ever wish to see. The slick bookmaker PR machine was in full motion. Every advert was full of free bets and often we saw high profile racing personalities in those said adverts.
The amount of PR nonsense and spin was through the roof. They would have no shame talking about fictional bets knowing no one would call them out on them etc. If they did lay a big bet it was clearly to either a degenerate or an enormous losing account. At no point did shows like the Morning Line actually discuss the pertinent issues for punters. These shows were meant to be designed with punters in mind. They would give the illusion of so called experts trying to find the punter at home a few winners. The conflicts of interest on the show were absolutely staggering. The bookmakers were in essence the paymasters now and the shows and those on them wouldn’t dare criticise the good old bookmakers. Everything was great.
All that happened was that the punter was ostracised and the bookmakers were untouchable as no one would call them out. All the aforementioned practices got worse and worse and they were the pre cursor to the situation we find ourselves in today. They had carte blanche.
The industry needed pushback from those in the media or those with a platform given the pathetic incompetence of the regulators. They were far too happy to take the money though that their employees were paying them. How does it come back to now?
Those who decided that they were happy slurping the media/bookmaker/pundit gravy train have absolutely no right to try and pretend to be the punters friend now. Seriously GTFOH. You had the chance to stand up for the punter, had a platform when it was really needed and you chose not to.
It potentially suits your interests now or the lightbulb has gone off that racing is so heavily reliant on betting and the current model is absolutely screwed as it is. People should be far less forgiving to those who have contributed to the situation we find ourselves in. You knew what was going on. Next time you see them on TV discussing these issues have a think about how they have contributed to the situation in the first place and treat them with the contempt they deserve. They seem to have been given a completely free ride.
By not making a stand at the time for what was right, the very existence of Horse Racing is under threat now. The funding model is completely reliant on betting and if betting revenues fall through the floor because of affordability checks then the Levy will as well.
I understand why they wouldn’t want to rock the boat but they should understand that they took their money, chose their side and shouldn’t feel upset if they are called out as complete hypocrites. They have failed the ordinary punter and the betting industry as a whole.
ProPunting 