It is one of a series of 10 initiatives proposed by the body, which has been investigating ways in which racing could be made more appealing to younger punters and casual fans.
Under a decimal odds betting system, the entire payout is shown, including the initial stake, so, for example, 6-4 would become 2.5 and 20-1 would become 21.
Although online bookmakers, including betting exchanges such as Betfair, have either dealt exclusively in decimal odds or offered customers the choice between fractional and decimal, the move marks a distinct break with the traditional notation of fixed-odds betting, and has provoked mixed reactions.
"Anything that will help slow down or reverse the trend that has seen people moving away from racing has to be welcomed," said David Williams, a spokesman for Ladbrokes. "The only people who will object to it are people who don't want to be part of the future."
However, David Hood of William Hill said that there was no evidence that the introduction of decimal odds would have the desired effect. "The items revealed by Racing for Change do not offer the solutions we had hoped for," he said. "We had a trial of a decimal-odds football betting coupon two years ago and it proved to be extremely unpopular. There is no research to indicate that our customers want it."
Independent on-course bookmakers were disappointed that they had not been asked about the proposals before they were unveiled, and expressed fears that a switch to decimal odds would squeeze their margins further, with punters less willing to accept smaller odds on each-way bets than they would get in a betting shop.
Although betting shops are confined by an industry standard to offer a quarter the odds for a place finish, on-course bookmakers generally offer a fifth or a sixth of the odds as a result of their higher overheads.
0 comments:
Post a Comment