5.62m Enjoy a Day’s Racing in 2019

Over 5.6m people enjoyed a day’s racing at a British Racecourse during 2019, according to the latest Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) attendance figures. This represents a 2.6% decrease from 2018, partly as a result of a higher number of abandonments throughout the course of the year. This included a six-day halt on racing in February and a significant number of lost fixtures in the final quarter of the year on account of persistent rain resulting in waterlogged ground.

Over 5.6m people visited a British Racecourse in 2019, making the sport the second most popular in Britain (image courtesy Newbury Racecourse)

The average attendance for 2019 across British Racecourses was 3,898 – this is from a total of 1,443 fixtures. In 2018 the average attendance figure stood at 3,924 from 1,471 total fixtures staged across the year.

Key abandonments in the final quarter of the year included the opening day of Cheltenham’s November meeting and Doncaster’s Vertem Futurity Trophy fixture – one of four consecutive abandonments at Doncaster in Q4 2019.

Highlights of the year included the Easter weekend which saw over 100,000 racegoers attend a race meeting from Good Friday to Easter Monday, whilst there were increased attendances at some of the sport’s most iconic events including Cheltenham’s The Festival™, the Investec Derby Festival at Epsom Downs, the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival at York and the Ladbrokes Winter Carnival at Newbury.

The 2019 outbreak of equine flu and inclement weather have served to reinforce the necessity to drive advance ticket sales at all racecourses. The number of advance ticket sales continues to provide a foundation from which to protect attendances, with over 2.5m pre-booked tickets sold in the past year.

Great British Racing’s U18s Race Free campaign was in full swing in 2019 with particular emphasis on the summer months. The core campaign period performed well at a time when the sport is faced with increased competition for attention and out-performed the national trends with a 1% increase in advance ticket sales.

Advance sales remain of utmost importance to racecourses to protect attendances and revenue in a crowded leisure market and provides racegoers with better value given the price incentives on offer by purchasing tickets in advance.

David Armstrong, Chief Executive of the Racecourse Association, said: “The sport has faced a number of challenges in 2019 as well as increased competition from other sports and the wider leisure market. In spite of this, British Racing has once again comfortably remained the second-most attended sport in the country and we should be proud to have welcomed over 5.6m people to our racecourses this year.”

Rod Street, Chief Executive of Great British Racing, added “Whilst the appeal of racing’s most famous festivals remains strong, it’s clear that continued investment in national campaigns is vital in helping to drive growth for the sport.

“During the summer months when the sport saw a small decline in advance ticket sales, family days which formed part of Great British Racing’s Under 18s Race Free campaign saw a 1% year on year increase, representing significant growth against an underlying trend. A day at the races has something for everyone and continuing to deepen our appeal with different audience groups remains central to our strategy.”