“It is a demand for honesty” - Stakeholders call for a unified voice

Calls for a unified voice to be heard 

The formation of a new owners, trainers and breeders association is being called for by a group of stakeholders keen on ensuring greyhound racing’s long-term future in the UK.

A statement released yesterday - and circulated to a number of owners and trainers - describes greyhound racing as “being stripped of what it earns” and “being short-changed” and that all sides of the industry need to come together.

A source said: “This process is in its infancy and not all stakeholders have been consulted, but the response we’ve had in the last 24 hours has been really positive. Greyhound people know there needs to be change - and we’ll be arranging meetings in due course by way of a first step in the process.

“But the building blocks are very much in place.”

The hard-hitting statement reads: 

“Britain likes to think of itself as a nation that believes in fair play but in reality British greyhound racing is being systematically short-changed - and has been for years.”

“Greyhound racing is not a marginal pastime. It’s a core betting product, generated by the daily work of trainers, kennelstaff, owners and volunteers. It produces reliable, high-volume content that underpins betting shop turnover and online wagering across long trading hours.

“Yet for all of this, the sport is rewarded with less than three per cent of the turnover connected to its product.

“Under the current funding model, greyhound racing receives just 0.6 per cent via a voluntary payment on betting turnover, and 2.2 per cent of media rights - a total return of 2.8 per cent.

“This compares incredibly badly with other sports who receive a lot more based on correct distribution of their product. This is not a marginal difference - it’s a structural imbalance baked into the system and one that ensures greyhound racing is permanently disadvantaged, regardless of how much value it generates.

“Greyhound racing delivers constant betting opportunities, fills quiet periods in the wagering day, and drives repeat engagement. Bookmakers profit. Other codes benefit. Greyhound racing does not.

“There is no serious argument that this reflects contribution or value. It reflects power, history and inertia.

“The sport has also paid a heavy price in reform. Greyhound racing has been forced - rightly - to confront welfare failures and improve standards. It has done so.

“It is now among the most heavily regulated sports in the UK. Greyhounds are tracked throughout their lives. Injury rates are at historic lows. More dogs are rehomed each year than are bred.

“These reforms have cost money. They have been funded by the sport itself - despite it receiving less than three per cent of the revenue tied to its betting product.

“The funding model that locks in this iniquity dates back decades, to a time when the betting and media landscape was unrecognisable. Greyhound racing accepted those terms in good faith, on the assumption they would be reviewed if circumstances changed.

“They have changed beyond recognition.

“Greyhound racing now props up the modern betting industry. Yet its financial treatment remains frozen in the past, while others enjoy protection, certainty and a guarantees.

“What makes this worse is the silence that has followed. Greyhound racing’s participants have been criticised, regulated and financially squeezed - often simultaneously - and told to accept it as the price of survival.

“It isn’t.

“No industry can be expected to improve welfare, maintain compliance, support participants and secure its future while being denied a fair return on what it produces. No system that extracts value from one sector to favour another can credibly claim to be fair.

“This is not a request for sympathy. It is a demand for honesty.

“And perhaps it points to a deeper problem.

“Greyhound racing in Britain lacks a single, unified voice that speaks clearly and forcefully for those who actually fund and sustain the sport. Owners, trainers and breeders are fragmented, under-represented, and too easily ignored.

“If the current structures will not deliver fairness, then perhaps the industry itself must change how it represents its interests.

“Maybe the time has come for the creation of an Owners, Trainers and Breeders Association of Great Britain - an independent body - with the sole purpose of advocating for fair funding, transparent governance and a sustainable future for the sport.

“If greyhound racing is good enough to power the betting industry, it is good enough to be heard.

“Anything less is indefensible.

“The future of British greyhound racing may depend on it.”