Billionaire Betfred bookmaker will stop bankrolling Andy Burnham's beloved rugby league and may end racing sponsorship if Budget targets betting shops

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 16:20 EDT, 19 September 2026 | Updated: 16:23 EDT, 19 September 2026 A billionaire bookmaker will end his firm's sponsorship of rugby league, a favourite sport of Prime Minister Andy Burnham's, and could withdraw its financial support of horseracing if fresh taxes on gambling go ahead.Fred Done, who owns British company Betfred, said it 'breaks my heart' to end the bookmaker's bankrolling of rugby league after almost a decade as the sport's lead sponsor.Mr Burnham is a keen fan of rugby league, holding season tickets at Leigh Leopards and donating a portion of his first MP salary after returning to Parliament to the grassroots Ashton Bears club.That donation came with a social media video posted in August, a signature of the Prime Minister's campaigning, showing the Makerfield MP chatting with Bears club members round a table with a pint of what appeared to be beer on the table in front of him.Mr Burnham also served as president of the Rugby Football League from 2018 to 2019, paid an annual salary of £118,267, and was succeeded by former Arsenal centre-back Tony Adams.But he was hit with a plea from Mr Done to avoid a tax raid on the gambling industry after former Chancellor Rachel Reeves almost doubled online gaming duty at last year's Budget.'I'm not asking anyone to feel sorry for bookmakers,' Mr Done wrote in The Sunday Times.'But I am asking the government to open their eyes. You can't squeeze any more out of this industry. Every penny more of tax will kill investment, kill jobs, [and] kill horseracing.' Fred Done, who owns the British bookmaker Betfred, said the company would end its sponsorship of rugby league and could withdraw from bankrolling horseracing too Andy Burnham posed with a personalised shirt from his Leigh Leopards side at a match in Liverpool in July. He said the sport would be a 'big priority' in his time as Prime MinisterAlongside his brother Peter, Mr Done topped the newspaper's Tax List this year after paying £400million to the Exchequer.His comments came as another top taxpayer - hedge fund manager Chris Rokos - left Britain for Greece before the Government found 'any further ways of confiscating his money', the Daily Mail's Robert Hardman wrote this week.The Prime Minister has said grassroots rugby league, alongside sport in general, would be a 'big priority' during his time in office but Mr Done's appeal will pile fresh pressure on taxation decisions.It comes as Gordon Brown, the former Labour Prime Minister and Chancellor, called this summer for increases to machine gaming duty.Gambling rules were relaxed during Mr Brown's time in Downing Street but he recently joined with think tanks that previously lobbied Ms Reeves to hike rates.The former Labour leader said he would use the money raised from machine gaming duty to 'pay for help in the crisis and resilience fund for people who are facing difficulties with their fuel bills'.Were Mr Burnham and his Chancellor John Healey to raise machine gaming duty this autumn, Mr Done warned of a 'bloodbath' and said Betfred would close 495 shops and cut 2,475 jobs.In horseracing, the company is also the lead sponsor of the British Classics - the Derby, the Oaks, the St Leger, the 2,000 Guineas and the 1,000 Guineas - but its future in that role could also be at risk.Mr Done said Betfred had a verbal agreement to renew sponsorship of the flat racing competitions for a further three years but if October's Budget 'goes the wrong way' on machine gaming duty, he said 'we will have to walk away from those too'.The Treasury said: 'The chancellor is fully focused on his priorities, to give families and businesses a bit of breathing space, back British jobs, and drive growth in every postcode, underpinned by a commitment to meet the fiscal rules.'