The 2025 France Galop budget has been formally adopted by the organisation's council, which met at ParisLongchamp on Dec. 17.
France Galop president Guillaume de Saint-Seine said that the organisation will maintain 2024 prize-money levels. However, he also said that a full audit of the PMU, of which France Galop is a shareholder, would commence in the first quarter of 2025. The PMU's gambling turnover for the past year has decreased by just under €100 million, leading to a loss of €18 million in contributions to racing and trotting.
De Saint-Seine said in a statement on Dec. 17, “The Board of Directors of France Galop has approved the 2025 budget, which reflects a proactive vision with a major investment: the maintenance of incentives at the 2024 level. We have also chosen to continue the implementation of the “Ambition 2030” plan, which aims to ensure visibility and economic sustainability for the sector and for France Galop's employees.
“We will review annually the effectiveness of the measures taken and the financial resources devoted to this plan, in the light of the evolution of our resources. It is a question of setting in motion a virtuous circle so that racing finds its place in the hearts of the French….
“At the same time, France Galop is considering how to carry out our missions more efficiently and with less burden, and therefore to transform ourselves….This savings plan aims to return to an operating balance for France Galop….
“After twelve months of presence on the PMU board of directors, I believe that we are not playing our role as a shareholder of the PMU; we are light years away from a private equity fund, an active shareholder even though more than 90% of our resources come from it.
“It is clear that strategic mistakes have been made in the past, such as the back and forth offer of races to bettors, the retreat assumed in the online sports betting offer, the erasure of the presence of the PMU brand in consumer communication….
“But it is clear that for the second time in ten years, the budget has not been realized. The medium-term plan of the PMU is abandoned; It was aiming for a contribution of €900 million by 2026/2027. It will be stability at best, while our expenses are increasing and France Galop's operating account–excluding capital gains–is in deficit….
“We voted for the budget with a request for an audit for 2024 and the construction of the 2025 budget. This vote on the budget is motivated by the desire not to paralyse the PMU's activity from January 2025. In our minds, this is a preliminary budget, pending the conclusions of the audit that we have requested and the details of the requests for which will be presented to the audit and risk committee of the PMU on December 18, 2024 by Kamel Chehboub, our representative in this body.
“The audit is about understanding what is happening and how, from a gross gaming revenue, down by nearly 100 million euros, the contribution to the parent companies is down by only 18 million euros. It is also to ensure that the 2025 budget is solidly built and will not be revised downwards in the first months of next year, by deferrals of charges or other.”
Earlier in the autumn, French racing avoided a proposed tax on horse racing betting that was part of the Social Security Finance Bill put forth by the French parliament. That language was later removed from that bill.
“For the record, at the beginning of October, we were told that the tax on betting would increase from 80 to 100 million euros,” Saint-Seine's statement continued. “We have created a crisis unit with the FNCH, the Trot and the PMU which has met twice a day. We have also mobilised parliamentarians Woerth, Morin, Courtial, Vogel and elected representatives of the cities hosting racecourses. The work of explaining the unique nature of the financing of the racehorse breeding sector has been heard by the Government and more broadly by the State services, mainly in Bercy. The united mobilization of socio-professionals has been a success–but at a high cost in terms of revenue for the sector. Contacts will be maintained with the public authorities until the vote on the budget in 2025.”
For Saint-Seine's full statement and more details on the 2025 France Galop budget, please visit the France Galop website.
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