British Horseracing Authority
Protecting the British horseracing industry from a catastrophic tax hike
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) launched the #AxeTheRacingTax campaign to prevent the UK Government from increasing the tax on online horserace betting (from 15% to over 21%). The BHA warned this "tax raid could kill off racing".
MessageSpace delivered a precision-targeted campaign between October 28 and November 5, 2025, aimed at government decision-makers and politically engaged readers. The core message, "A tax raid could kill off racing. It's time for the Government to #AxeTheRacingTax," was strategically placed across high-impact political and news publications. The strategy combined high-reach Programmatic channels with targeted placements on influential political sites, including LabourList, The Guardian, and Guido Fawkes.
Key Results
- Key policy win: The government exempt betting on British horse racing from planned tax increases in the recent budget
- The campaign delivered a total of 2,565,075 impressions
- Guido Fawkes achieved the highest CTR at 0.14%
- The programmatic channel was the primary driver of campaign reach, accounting for over 1.5 million impressions
- Campaign successfully targeted high-value political inventory, with placements achieving up to 0.25% CTR