The British Horseracing Board (BHB) and the Fixtures Marketing company have lost a lengthy court battle intended to prevent betting firms, including William Hill, from using their sports schedules.

Consquently, the BHB will no longer be able to charge betting firms for the use of pre-race or pre-football match data which could have serious financial implications for the long-term future of the board.

Fixtures Marketing, which is used by both Scottish and English football leagues to issue international licences for the use of match listings, had teamed up with the BHB in order to prevent betting firms using their data.

However, the European Court of Justice decided that such use does not contravene EU database legislation, thereby overturning two previous British High Court and Appeal Court rulings that had found in favour of the BHB and Fixtures Marketing.

The latest court ruling could have wide-ranging implications for football fixture lists – as it raises doubt over whether a database can be defined as a fixture list. As a result, professional leagues may also no longer need to pay to compile fixture information.

In a statement, the European Union court said: “Neither the obtaining, verification nor presentation of the contents of a football fixture list or a schedule of horseraces constitute substantial investment giving rise to protection against the use of the data by third parties.”

Chief executive of the BHB, Greg Nichols, responded: "Following today's obvious setback in one area of our rights, the BHB remains absolutely focused on achieving British Racing's commercial objectives."

David Harding, William Hill’s chief executive, countered: “We are obviously delighted that the European Court of Justice has finally made the right decision. This makes it clear what the database directive was intended to be. Finally, we’ve had clarification that the law was never intended to be used in the way it was previously.

“Since the British Court was simply giving an opinion on European Law, the European Court of Justice has now told the world what the law means,” he said. Details: www.curia.eu.int