British horseracing sees rise in attendance but decline in betting revenue
The BHA’s quarterly report raises more concerns about the industry’s finances.
UK.- The British Horseracing Authority has welcomed an increase in total attendances at racecourses in the third quarter of the year. In its quarterly report, it says attendance was up by 4.9 per cent compared with last year from 3.918m to 4.109m.
Average crowds rose by 697, or 5.3 per cent, at Premier Fixtures and by 107, or 4.4 per cent, at Core Fixtures. The BHA put the increase down to pleasant weather through the spring and summer, the national The Going Is Good campaign, which was launched in May, alongside racecourses’ own marketing efforts.
However, betting activity has remained under pressure, the BHA warned. Total betting turnover up to the end of Q3 was 4.2 per cent below the same nine months in 2024 and 12.8 per cent below 2023, it reported. While the number of races run can deviate from year-to-year, the average turnover per race has also fallen, down by 5.8 per cent compared with 2024 and by 11.4 per cent against 2023.
The BHA noted that betting customers are increasingly focusing their attention on the bigger racedays. Compared with 2024, the average turnover per race at Premier Fixtures is up by 2.7 per cent, whilst at Core Fixtures it has declined by 8.6 per cent.
“Many of our biggest days continue to grow in their popularity whilst more run-of-the-mill events are under a lot of pressure despite the best efforts of the host racecourses and, indeed, others,” the BHA said. “Of course, this isn’t specific to racing with this trend being experienced in many other sports and, indeed, the wider leisure industry.”
The BHA linked the trend to the impact of the Gambling Commission’s affordability checks.
It said: “This preference for our highest profile fixtures is undoubtedly linked to the impact of affordability checks with there being fewer larger staking customers, who have either stopped betting or are placing their bets elsewhere, and have been only partially replaced by more recreational punters betting in smaller stakes, primarily at the bigger meetings,” the BHA argues.
Opposition to gambling tax reforms
British racing recently wrote an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer expressing concern over the Treasury’s proposed gambling tax harmonisation policy. The BHA argues that the policy risks causing irreversible damage to Britain’s second-largest sport.
“While we acknowledge that the Treasury is preparing its Budget against a challenging financial backdrop, there are clear risks to the Government – political, economic, social and cultural – in pressing ahead with this damaging tax hike,” the body says.
The letter has been signed by 363 racing professionals including some of the sport’s biggest names.
It added: “With decisions relating to tax harmonisation and, also, taxes on gambling companies to be announced on 26 November, the industry’s future financial position remains under a cloud. In the event that this results in the betting industry increasing margins, reducing promotions and offers, and/or closing betting shops, this would inevitably impact racing’s finances in the years to come.”
On the positive side, the BHA welcomed the new four-year deal for ITV to show exclusive, free-to-air coverage of racing from 2027 until the end of 2030. It noted that five million viewers watched Royal Ascot across the five days it was on air, with viewing on the final afternoon up by over 20 per cent compared to last year. The Cheltenham Festival saw its biggest peak audience for four years with a high of 1.8m on Gold Cup Day, and the Derby saw its biggest audience for two years peaking with 1.3m.
The body also noted the challenges involved in producing its annual fixture policy, balancing commercial considerations with the impact of staging those races on competitiveness levels and racing’s longer-term appeal to the public.
It said: “Whilst it might seem a long way off, work has already started on the 2027 fixture list and, with horses numbers continuing to fall, there is clearly a difficult question to be answered about what size of fixture list will be sustainable by then.”
Total prize money has increased by £4.7m to £153m (2024: £148.3m), albeit there have been 98 more races run. That increase has been spread across both codes (Flat up £3m, Jump up £1.7m), and across both fixture types (Premier up £2.4m, Core up £2.3m).
With reference to the number of horses in training, the BHA noted a contraction of around 1.5 per cent each year since 2022. In August, it announced a number of initiatives that aim to grow the number of horses being bred, trained and raced in Britain.
