In exciting news for sports traders, the much-feared Turnover Charge is set to be abolished from thoroughbred and greyhound racing in Victoria from July 1st. This means that sports traders no longer have to live in fear of having to pay premium charges to employ back and lay trading techniques on races held in the state. The change comes due to Betfair now paying their fees based on a proportion of customer's winnings as opposed to merely their back bets.
For those who sports trade as a profession, this news will be great relief and will hopefully see an increase in liquidity in the Victorian racing markets which is a positive for all sports bettors.
Here's the press release in full from Betfair:
Betfair wishes to update its customers about the application of the Turnover Charge following changes to the manner that Betfair is levied fees by racing bodies.
From 1 July 2013, the Turnover Charge will be removed from thoroughbred and greyhound racing in Victoria. This has come about because of a change in definition of turnover for betting exchanges which now means Betfair pays a proportion of the net customer winnings generated on markets.
This means that customers who utilise the trading aspects of the exchange are now free to bet on all three codes of Victorian racing.
Unfortunately the imposition of an increased turnover floor on South Australian racing means that Betfair will be forced to apply the Turnover Charge to all three codes of South Australian racing.
Betfair is hopeful that racing bodies will follow the Victorian racing industry and move away from levying fees based on the aggregate of bets on the ‘backer’s side’ of the exchange.
This will enable Betfair to remove the Turnover Charge from each market and ensure that punters are not turned away from racing markets by the imposition of specific fees on trading behaviour.
For the time being, we encourage customers who utilise the trading aspects of the exchange to do so only in markets where the Turnover Charge does not apply. This includes a number of Australian racing jurisdictions, all sports markets and all overseas markets.
For more information about these markets, head to www.factsaboutfunding.com.au.
