GVC Holdings is selling off its on-course bookmaking operations at horse racing tracks across the United Kingdom. It’s a move that portends a grim future for UK track operators and is just another guy kick from the ongoing trauma that we know as 2020.
According to a recent report in the UK Guardian, GVC Holdings is getting ready to unload on-course operations run under the Coral and Ladbrokes brand names. Though these two brands, GVC Holdings maintained a presence on 85 UK races courses and 21 in Ireland. That’s a lot of locations and speaks to the seriousness of the situation.
The fact of the matter is that UK race courses have taken a huge hit during the pandemic and have been closed more than they’ve been open since the chaos began in March. And it’s a side of GVC Holding’s business that had been sliding before the world went on lockdown.
In a statement to the press, Tom Ritzema, GVC’s trading director described the situation saying, ““The volume of business taken through the racecourse pitches is miniscule compared to the volumes generated in our off-course retail and digital businesses, and we no longer use the operation to hedge into the racecourse betting ring.”
“The volume of business taken through the racecourse pitches is miniscule compared to the volumes generated in our off-course retail and digital businesses, and we no longer use the operation to hedge into the racecourse betting ring,” he added, he added.”
GVC Holdings’ on-course bookmaking operations are being sold off to the same investor that purchased William Hill’s on-course operations a couple years back.