William Hill, one of the UK’s largest bookmakers, is entering a deal with the Arena Racing Company (ARC) which will have them opening six new betting shops at ARC tracks across the UK. It’s a deal that allows William Hill to expand its UK footprint, while also thumbing its nose at one of its biggest domestic rivals.
The company is actually taking over business at tracks that were once run by the UK’s other massive bookmaker, Ladbrokes. Ladbrokes and ARC have been locked in a six-month battle over ARC’s new television division, The Racing Partnership (TRP) which would have had Ladbrokes/Betfred airing TRP races at their thousands of UK retail outlets.
While the feud was ongoing, it has since been resolved, TRP inked its deal with William Hill, leaving Ladbrokes in the dust.
The first new trackside betting shops has already opened, without fanfare at Doncaster track, where the company is sponsoring the St Leger next month. Opening dates have also been set for facilities at Wolverhampton, Royal Windsor, Southwell,Lingfield Park and Worcester.
In a statement to the press, as reported on by the Racing Post, William Hill’s divisional director for the northern region Steven White said:
The William Hill facilities at Doncaster are already proving popular so we’re excited about extending our presence to the on-course betting facilities at six of Arc’s racecourses.
Because of a quirk in the licensing process for the new shops, the opening dates have been staggered throughout the summer. ARC is the UK’s largest track operator with 15 facilities across the country.