William Hill Trackside Portfolio sold off. FTSE bookmaker William Hill has confirmed the sale of its on-course betting points/stalls network worth £2 million. This now ends its trackside presence within UK racing.

As reported in igamingbusiness.com William Hill will focus on its racetrack betting shops after selling its entire portfolio of trackside pitches.

The bookmaker has sold 82 stalls to the owner of leading racetrack operator Sid Hooper in a deal the Racing Post suggests is worth around £2m (€2.3m/$2.6m). The sale brings to an end almost a century of trackside operations for William Hill. William Hill began offering markets at the Northolt Park course in 1933.

Reasoning behind William Hill Trackside Portfolio sold

The move comes just three months after William Hill massively expanded its racetrack betting shop portfolio. The betting shop portfolio increased from 34 to 41 with Jockey Club Racing (JCR), Go Racing Yorkshire and various independents.

Trading director Terry Pattinson said today’s trackside sale is the latest action in the development of its on-course strategy. In a statement he said: “We have reviewed our rails operation continues to makes commercial sense. Our focus now is to provide on course customers with a full retail experience on the racecourse. It makes sense to move away from our rails operation, hence, we have agreed a sale with Racecourse Pitches.”

William Hill is the leading sponsor of ITV Racing and gives its name to races at Ascot, Ayr and Ripon. Its recent deal with JCR establishes the firm as the exclusive betting shop provider at Jockey Club courses, replacing Betfred in the role.

Sid Hooper, managing director at John Hooper, said:- “We have been looking for expansion opportunities and are thrilled to have acquired the William Hill on-course portfolio of pitches.”