UK-listed bookies William Hill have declined to renew their sponsorship of the Lincoln Handicap race at Doncaster due to the imposition of the UK’s point-of-consumption tax (POCT). The tax, which costs operators 15% of revenue earned via online gamblers based in the UK, kicked in Dec. 1. Hills had served as the race sponsor since 2006 but the latest deal ended last March.
On Tuesday, Hills spokesperson Kate Miller said the company “had to review a number of our marketing investments” as a consequence of adjusting to the new POCT reality. Miller told the Racing Post that it hadn’t decided to axe any other racing sponsorships and the Lincoln hadn’t been singled out for special treatment. “The renewal of it came up at an opportune moment.” Track officials say they are “currently in discussions with several interested parties” regarding the now vacant sponsorship.
In more positive Hills news, the company’s US division has been added to the board of the American Gaming Association (AGA). Hills was one of six new firms added to the AGA’s board, joining Nevada bookies CG Technology, casino and racetrack operator Greenwood Racing Inc., gaming device maker Konami Gaming, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Seminole Hard Rock Gaming, the AGA’s first ever board member from the ranks of America’s Indian tribes.
Finally, Hills recently paid out £2,500 to a Scots punter who bet the bookies he could lose 100 lb. in less than a year. Self-confessed pie eater Gary Connell had tipped the scales at 344 lb. and when he decided to drop the fork he convinced Hills to accept his £25 wager that he couldn’t flay the flab in under a year. Thanks to a pie-free diet and a regular exercise program, the 35-year-old Connell now weighs a mere 240 lb. Hills spokesman Rupert Adams said the bookie normally accepts around 100 such bets each year and called Connell’s accomplishment “a flau-ulous feat.”
