A UK charity has blamed streaming and betting as the reason for a surge in greyhound races in Wales. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Dog racing on the rise

A Welsh animal welfare charity has revealed its fears of a greyhound racing industry comeback following two decades of seemingly terminal decline for the sport. 

placed blame on “streaming and betting”

Greyhound Rescue Wales has placed “a big part” of the blame for the resurgence on “streaming and betting.” According to the charity’s CEO Tim Doyle, the “main output of the Valley track, like most tracks in the UK, is to serve live streaming contracts.”

Doyle was speaking about Valley Stadium, Wales’ only greyhound racing track. Greyhound Rescue’s beef centers around this track in Rhymney Valley, which the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) only licensed in August 2023. 

Doyle stated the venue has already hosted 42 races in November after running 168 races in October.  

According to the BBC, Greyhound Rescue fears the rise in popularity of streaming live races will allow an industry in freefall “for the last 20 years” to prolong its survival.

Regulator’s counter argument

The GBGB, however, disputed the charity’s claims, and stated the uptick in racing action at the Valley was down to regulation, with “formal safeguards” and animal welfare measures now in place.

The regulator added the greyhound racing track in the South Wales valleys welcomed a “strong, local core of racing enthusiasts who appreciate and enjoy the sport, and importantly, value the measures now in place to protect welfare.”

With added weight behind its confidence, the GBGB stated the championing of industry standards made it proud to assert that: “British licensed greyhound racing remains a popular product of choice for broadcasters here and globally.”

For good measure, the regulator added the industry contributes £166m ($208m) to the UK economy each year. 

As for the UK’s national gambling regulator, the Betting and Gambling Council (BGC), it welcomed the “significant improvement in facilities and standards at the Valley.” The BGC said in 2023 its members donated over £7m ($8m) to a welfare fund for greyhounds, while gambling-related sponsorship of the sport generated £30,000 ($37,717).

Fears laid bare

Greyhound Rescue was at pains to stress that the increase in greyhound races was not something to celebrate as a community-boosting catalyst, a la the Wrexham Effect. 

rose-tinted view of greyhound racing

Doyle said many people have “a rose-tinted view of greyhound racing as a night out at the dogs [and] that the tracks are packed with people.” Alluding to streaming and betting, Doyle said: “That’s not really where the majority of business is coming from.”

Matt Zarb-Cousin, a gambling reform campaigner linked to the greyhound charity, said greyhound racing was “antiquated” and races were merely “random betting events.”