THE grim reality of stagnating revenue returns from wagering means race clubs nationwide now must look further afield to secure their future, reports the Courier-Mail in Brisbane.It says: Queensland is facing a second successive year of reduced returns from TattsBet and, in a national trend, pari-mutuel betting is declining in the face of punters choosing to take fixed odds or bet with a corporate bookmaker. The funding woes confronting racing in Queensland had their genesis in 1999 when the TAB

THE grim reality of stagnating revenue returns from wagering means race clubs nationwide now must look further afield to secure their future, reports the Courier-Mail in Brisbane.

It says: Queensland is facing a second successive year of reduced returns from TattsBet and, in a national trend, pari-mutuel betting is declining in the face of punters choosing to take fixed odds or bet with a corporate bookmaker. The funding woes confronting racing in Queensland had their genesis in 1999 when the TAB was floated on the stock exchange following a deal with the newly elected Peter Beattie Labor government.

The deal comprised a fixed fee and a variable fee (product fee) based on a percentage of the then UNiTAB's total wagering revenue, with the fixed component being phased out over four years. The product fee was based solely on a percentage of wagering revenue. Under privatisation, UNiTAB was given exclusive wagering rights for 15 years, expiring in 2014.

The original deal the industry struck with the Coalition included the fixed fee remaining in place and being indexed annually. It also included the racing industry being able to take up to a 25 per cent financial interest in new non-wagering business ventures undertaken by the privatised TAB. That proposal was jettisoned by Beattie.

Because the racing industry didn't get a share of the non-wagering business as NSW and Victoria did for the likes of sports betting and poker machines, it placed Queensland at a significant disadvantage.

Brisbane Racing Club chairman Kevin Dixon says the dud TAB deal was exacerbated by the trend to corporate bookies.

"The racing industry messed it up when they allowed this explosion of corporate bookmakers that don't pay their way for the use of the product," Dixon said. "The revenue return to racing is going down, even though wagering is increasing in leaps and bounds, but it's going to operators who don't have to pay enough."