November 21, 2024
Greyhound Racing NSW (GRNSW) today released its FY23-24 Annual Report, tabled in Parliament by The Hon. David Harris, Minister for Gaming and Racing. The Report highlights GRNSW’s continued focus on animal welfare, safety, and record returns for participants in a challenging economic climate.
Despite significant financial pressures across the industry, GRNSW increased funding in essential areas of rehoming and prizemoney.
Highlights from the Annual Report:
- GRNSW assisted to pet life a record 2,794 greyhounds, surpassing the previous year’s benchmark of 2,202. Investment for the Greyhounds As Pets program increased by over 50% to $18.1 million, underscoring GRNSW’s commitment to rehoming initiatives.
- GRNSW continued to invest in track safety, with a 172% year-on-year increase in Racing and Club Infrastructure investment, totalling $10.2 million.
- The Greyhound Care Scheme 2.0 (GCS 2.0) provided $1.44 million in rebates to participants, delivering improved care outcomes for greyhounds seriously injured during races.
- Catastrophic injuries were at their lowest since records began in 2015-16, with the injury metric falling to 0.21 per 1,000 starts in FY23-24, down from 0.65 in FY22-23.
- A record $55.2 million in prizemoney and travel subsidies, was distributed to participants, a 4.99% increase from the previous year.
- Results were impacted by a softer wagering market across all racing products, which affected GRNSW’s income. GRNSW reported a $16.7 million loss, influenced by ongoing macroeconomic pressures, including inflation and higher interest rates, which have strained both revenue streams and operating costs.
- Wagering income from TAB and corporate bookmakers fell, and Race Fields Information Use (RFIU) fees dropped by $4.8 million.
- Year-on-year wagering on greyhound racing saw a modest decline of only 8%, with a total of $2.67 billion wagered - the third highest on record.
- Expenditure rose by $15 million, directed towards strategic initiatives to foster a responsible, sustainable, and competitive greyhound racing industry.
In a challenging economic year, NSW’s greyhound racing industry contributed over $809.9 million in value-added impact to the state's economy for FY22-23, according to an independent report commissioned by GRNSW. The report also highlights the industry’s substantial employment footprint, with over 10,900 roles including employees, participants, and volunteers.
“Like for many organisations, FY23-24 presented its challenges to our operating environment,” said GRNSW Acting Chief Executive Officer Wayne Billett. “Similar to other racing organisations across the country, the softer wagering market significantly impacted GRNSW’s income.
“We invested over $6 million in the state-of-the-art Taree track upgrade and continued to develop the US adoption pathways program, which, in its first full year of operation, successfully rehomed 668 greyhounds in North America.
“GRNSW has taken prudent steps to align our cost base with forecasted wagering market performance. I'm particularly pleased that, thanks to the strong results from previous years, we maintained full support for our participants and animal welfare initiatives, reaffirming our pursuit of excellence throughout FY23-24.”
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