Jenningsbet Racing Risks Pricing out the Bookies


Jenningsbet CEO Greg Knight believes the debate around Britain’s shrinking betting shop estate is overlooking one of its biggest pressures: the escalating cost of racing media rights. Speaking to G3,


Knight explains why the current model risks becoming unsustainable, how Jenningsbet has doubled its estate while larger rivals retrench, and why political intervention now worries him more than the underlying economics of retail betting.


Greg, you’ve raised the issue of media rights as a major factor in the pressure faced by retail betting shops. How significant have increases in racing media rights become?


Te increases have been substantial. Five years ago, our media rights costs were approximately £40,000 per shop per year including VAT. Tree years ago, that had risen to around £50,000. Tis year, we’re looking at a staggering £70,000 per shop.


Every betting shop is different and independents operate on a different payment mechanism to the majors, so you have to be careful about generalising across the industry. But for us, that represents an increase of around 75 per cent in five years, and I think you would find a similar story elsewhere.


Te bigger concern is that I don’t believe there is a true understanding among the media rights companies of the cost pressures facing retail betting. At times, it feels as though they think we’re bluffing. I was effectively told by one media rights company: “If it’s that bad, why don’t you shut more shops? Independents haven’t shut enough shops for us to believe you can’t pay more.” In other words, because you’re still operating, there must be scope to charge you more. Tat is clearly not a sustainable way of looking at the market.


Why have media rights received less attention than tax and employment costs?


I understand why larger operators want to highlight taxation. Tey also operate significant online businesses and naturally want government to consider the impact when future tax decisions are made. I no longer run


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an online business, so I’m not suggesting their position is wrong. But when we’re specifically discussing retail, I struggle with the argument that online taxation is responsible for closing betting shops.


If I have a marginal shop making money, I’m going to keep it open because it is still profitable. Generally, the shops being closed are those that were already losing money.


What I do know is that the combined increases in racing media rights coming into effect in 2026 were higher for us than the additional costs of National Insurance and the minimum wage combined. When our own media rights bill has gone from around £40,000 per shop five years ago to £70,000 today, that puts the scale of the issue into perspective.


How much negotiating power do independent bookmakers have?


Very little. It is like telling a pub that it has a choice between selling beer and not selling beer. Technically there is a choice, but commercially there really isn’t. Tese are whole-estate contracts, so we can’t cherry-pick. We can’t decide that one shop takes plenty of racing and therefore needs the service, while another is predominantly football or machines and doesn’t. Consequently, we have individual shops where the revenue generated by racing comes nowhere near covering its cost.


Around half of our estate is in London boroughs, where competition can be extremely close. I can’t operate a shop 100 yards from a competitor and simply not show racing when they do. In practical terms, it becomes a take-it-or-leave-it proposition.


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