The face of the Tote will be changing across British racecourses this summer. The Tote, which has been owned and operated by Betfred since 2011 after they secured a £265m deal for it, will still be in place, but it won’t have a monopoly anymore on the industry. That is because in July this year, 54 racecourses up and down the country will take control of on-course pool betting.
The Tote has been a staple of British racing for the past 90 years and it is going to be replaced by BritBet on the majority of British racecourses including Cheltenham, Aintree, York and Goodwood in the summer. The Tote was sold to Betfred back in July 2001 after being government owned before that, but that seven-year monopoly is done and under the new Britbet brand, courses can run their own pools.
It will of course have a huge knock-on effect as Betfred will be closing nearly all of their on-course shops across the country and the bookmaker has also moved away from sponsorships which they picked up when they got the Tote. As it stands, Ascot and Chester will be sticking with the Tote.
BritBet will allow customers to bet wagers into pool both on-site at courses and online as well and there has been talk of something being brought into play like the current Tote Scoop6 feature in which punters can win big from a very small stake. Will the new BritBet arrival revive the fading fortunes of basic pool betting in the country which has faded from popularity since the growth of online betting and in particular betting exchanges?
Britbet has 55 racecourse partners, although the likes of Ascot, Chester, Bangor and Chelmsford City will have their own arrangements.
