Betfair Wins British Levy Board Case Against William Hill

The famous case of William Hill and The Horserace Betting Levy Board has finally been ruled by the British High Court. One of the most prominent online sportsbooks in United Kingdom, Betfair, was the primarily interested party in the legal action from the side of the Levy Board.

It all dates back when the Levy Board undertook a series of consultations in 2010-2011, which resulted in determining that the customers of Betfair, operating in full compliance with British gambling laws, didn’t need to pay the Horserace Betting Levy.

This decision was immediately contested by William Hill by launching a judicial review. The current ruling of the High Court vindicated Betfair’s position.

Chief legal and regulatory officer at Betfair, Martin Cruddace, told United Kingdom gambling news: “We welcome the High Court ruling which has vindicated the position of Betfair. It is now neither sustainable nor rational to argue that Betfair customers should be liable to pay the Levy any more than should customers of any other betting operator.”

He went on to add: “It is ironic that William Hill’s online business pays not a penny in Levy itself, despite making tens of millions of pounds in profits annually from British Racing. Yet still, it chose to argue that an undefined class of exchange customers should be required to pay Levy.”

Mr.Cruddace also added: “The savings made by William Hill through Levy avoidance may help fund poorly advised legal challenges such as this one, but I would suggest that their resources would be better spent working with British Racing to reach a commercial agreement in a similar vein to the one Betfair recently signed with the sport.”