How Greyhound Racing Is Funded and Regulated

Racing and welfare

20 Apr

Where the money comes from and who's checking. Three places, three very different systems and the official figures for each.

Most of us came to greyhounds through a rescue, not a racetrack. But at some point, usually while a greyhound from the racing industry is asleep on the sofa beside you, you start to wonder how the industry that bred them actually works. Who pays for it, and who checks on the dogs?

We love greyhounds, and we can't support the racing industry. That doesn't make every trainer a villain, and plenty of people in it care about their greyhounds. Here's how the money and the rules work, using only the official figures, so you can make up your own mind.

The Republic: A semi-state body and a state fund

Racing in the Republic is run and regulated by Greyhound Racing Ireland (Rásaíocht Con Éireann), a commercial semi-state body under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It began in 1958 as Bord na gCon and took its current name in October 2020.

Part of its money comes from the state, through the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund set up under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001. Budget 2026 gave the Fund €99.1 million: 80%, or €79.3 million, to horse racing and 20%, or €19.8 million, to greyhound racing. The Fund comes with conditions:

Welfare10% of the Fund allocation is ringfenced for welfare, including integrity.
Prize moneyNo more than 60% can go on prize money.
Running the sportNo more than 27% on regulation and administration, and no more than 3% on grants to privately owned tracks.

The greyhound share was €16.8 million in 2019 and 2020, €19.2 million in 2021, €17.6 million in 2022, €18.2 million in 2023 and €19.0 million in 2024.

Where the rest comes from

The rest comes from racing itself: Gate receipts, bars and restaurants at the tracks, a share of the tote betting pools and the sale of media rights to broadcast races. In 2024, tote turnover was €15.7 million and media rights brought in €2.9 million. Total prize money was €9.6 million, with 83% paid by Greyhound Racing Ireland. The regulator says it spent €4.1 million, or 20% of its funding, on traceability, care and welfare in 2024, and 21.19% in 2025.

Fewer people go to the races than used to. Attendance peaked at 1.39 million in 2005 and had fallen to 462,709 by 2019, according to an economic report the industry commissioned in 2021. In 2024, 358,141 people attended, down from 378,748 in 2023. The same report estimated that owners spend around €117.79 million a year breeding, rearing and training greyhounds. It's worth remembering that it's an economic study, not a welfare one, and it says its data came from Greyhound Racing Ireland.

Who checks on the greyhounds in Ireland

The Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 regulates breeding establishments and sets out owners' duties, and the industry's Code of Practice under it is mandatory. The Greyhound Racing Act 2019 made welfare one of the regulator's statutory functions and provided for a traceability system, which launched in 2021.

Welfare inspections rose from 1,221 in 2021 to 2,674 in 2022, then were 1,882 in 2023 and 2,455 in 2024. Our Racing and Welfare page sets out what the official figures say about breeding, injuries and rehoming.

Great Britain: The bookmakers' levy

Licensed racing in Great Britain is regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), which oversees 16 stadia. There's no state fund like Ireland's. GBGB is paid for through licence, registration and transfer fees and through voluntary payments from bookmakers, collected by the British Greyhound Racing Fund at 0.6% of off-course betting turnover.

Because the levy is voluntary, not every bookmaker pays. GBGB says contributions fell by 67% in real terms between 2008/09 and 2024/25, while bookmakers took £800 million on licensed greyhound racing in 2022/23. It has campaigned for a compulsory levy instead.

Wales and Scotland have both passed laws to end greyhound racing, but neither ban had started as of September 2026. The Welsh ban must start between 1 April 2027 and 1 April 2030. The Scottish one starts on a date the Scottish Government has yet to set.

Northern Ireland: Outside both systems

Northern Ireland's tracks aren't licensed by GBGB, and the Republic's Fund goes to Greyhound Racing Ireland, whose licensed tracks are all south of the border. A 2025 motion put to Belfast City Council described racing in Northern Ireland as one that "is unregulated, with no statutory oversight of welfare, injuries, or retirement outcomes". That's the council motion's description. We haven't found an official statement of who, if anyone, licenses Northern Ireland's tracks.

Making up your own mind

That's how the money moves, as far as the published figures show. Some people read them and see an industry trying to improve. Others read them and see the opposite. We've told you where we stand, once. What you make of the rest is up to you.

Whatever you decide, the greyhounds who leave racing still need soft beds and patient people. If you're one of those people, thank you.