Greyhound Racing UK could close in a month warns Davis
MIKE DAVIS, the managing director of Greyhound Racing UK which he launched earlier this year, has warned that the operation will close down, and associated brands be mothballed, at the end of September in the absence of outside funding.
In a statement to industry stakeholders which was also published on the Greyhound News UK website, Davis said: "I would like to give you all the position with the progress made with Greyhound Racing UK and the crossroads we have now reached for the organisation.
"I set out on the journey to create a promotion and marketing strategy and structure to support sustainability and growth for greyhound racing and homing in early 2024. It is something the sport never previously had.
"The industry has been in severe decline over a number of years with all commercial measures falling dramatically – public engagement, betting turnover, greyhound numbers, owner and trainer numbers.
"In March 2025, I launched Greyhound Racing UK. A new marketing and promotion organisation focused on reversing the trends.
"I made a commitment to contribute £3M of my own money into Greyhound Racing UK to establish what would work to achieve the change.
"Now well into the last third of that commitment, we have the results from the first 5 months of operational activity.We have had over 18 million social media and website views, 41,000 subscribers and 400,000 interactions.
"Amongst other successes, we have launched a YouTube brand called Barking Mad Betting which has received over 1 million views in four months and we have created a homing platform that provides a single view of available dogs in over 50 homing centres.
"The results have demonstrated that a new audience for greyhound racing and homing is out there and public perception is influenced by the targeted content they are exposed to.
"All bookmakers we have had feedback from have said they have seen an increase to year on year turnover in the past 4 months. However, they could not necessarily associate it with the promotional activity we have undertaken.
"It is also disappointing that this evidence is anecdotal rather than reported in actual numbers made available to us.
"All stakeholders in the industry can now see the work that has been completed and the results.
"The dilemma is now upon us about whether we want to continue as a sport with all of the activity, parts of the activity or none of the activity.
"Having funded everything to get us to this point, I cannot justify further funding into the project given the demonstration of the initial objectives where we have tested different engagement approaches, provided critical assessment and gathered significant engagement."
Davis then stresses that external resource will be required to continue, saying: "I am asking for all of you to consider whether you would like our promotional work for greyhound racing and homing to continue and, if so, in what format?
"What elements should be focussed on and should this be in a separate organisation or be integrated into an existing organisation?
"A funding model is also required to support the work and I would welcome views on how this could be achieved.
"I am happy for the brand assets and systems that have been created to be transferred to another organisation, if being carried forward."
In the event of no such commitment be forthcoming, Davis warned: "If commitment to continue the work and associated funding is not indicated in the next week, I intend to close down Greyhound Racing UK and mothball the brands on 30th September.
"Regardless of the outcome with Greyhound Racing UK, I will continue to support greyhound racing through my other interests in taking over at Towcester Racecourse and my greyhound ownership through the MWD Partnership with Mark Wallis."