This blog has written before about how the Aintree Grand National is just a large benefit gig for the bookmakers and the financial results announced by William Hill have confirmed it.
The bookmaker reported: “Auroras Encore made the Grand National a major success for William Hill, even beating our record win achieved on the race in 2009 when Mon Mome romped home at 100-1.”
William Hill did not give exact numbers for the amount it won from Auroras Encore’s 2013 Grand National victory but in 2009 the bookmaker won GB£ 6.2 million on the race and had a gross win margin of 37.8% on the event. So the company has earned its shareholders a nice little bonus of more than GB£ 6 million in revenues from the Grand National.
William Hill’s CEO Ralph Topping wrote in his blog:
“I’ve watched some fantastic winners in my 43 years in the business - Red Rum, Aldaniti, West Tip . This year’s result for bookies was as good as it gets….[The Grand National] was a great British tradition, done in a Great British way. Racing was a winner, Sport was a winner. But I’m a bookmaker first and foremost and it’s our William Hill shareholders who top the podium today.”
