5.7m enjoy a day at the races in 2018
Horseracing has consolidated its position as the second most-attended sport in Great Britain as advance ticket sales continue to rise.
Image courtesy of Tim Goode/PA Wire
Despite significant headwinds for the sport in the ‘Beast from the East’, leading to 69 abandonments in the first half of the year, the record-breaking summer heatwave and England’s sensational run in the FIFA World Cup Finals, 5.77m racegoers attended a racecourse in 2018, a 3% decrease from 2017 according to Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) figures, and similar to the effect last seen during the 2012 London Olympics.
In 2018, 1471 race meetings were staged with an average attendance of 3,924. This figure includes the provision of rearranged meetings to compensate those lost to the weather.
Advance sales continue to grow with almost two million tickets purchased in advance for race meetings in 2018, a 3% year-on-year increase from 2017. Returning racegoers also demonstrated their enjoyment of the sport as the sport’s retention rate increased 13% year-on-year. As the sport enters an uncertain period amongst the backdrop of Brexit and FOBT legislation, advance sales and racegoer retention are both vitally important touchpoints from which to benchmark and to protect revenue.
The sport’s crown jewels, such as the Randox Health Grand National Festival, Royal Ascot and the William Hill St Leger Festival, remained amongst the most-heavily attended sporting events in the national calendar. Across the sport, all racecourses enjoyed an average 4% increase in attendance at premium fixtures.
Image courtesy Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse
The competition from a major global sporting event in the FIFA World Cup, in which England enjoyed an extended run in the tournament, coupled with a heatwave meant that overall sporting attendances in July are estimated by leading sports marketing agency Two Circles to have been affected by as much as 10%. Horseracing fixtures were no exception during July, however meetings which were included in Great British Racing’s U18s campaign were more resilient, with advance bookings outperforming non-U18s fixtures.
RCA Chairman Maggie Carver commented “there are lots of things to be encouraged by when taking the 2018 attendance figures as a health-check for the sport. Despite the impact of the unseasonal weather and FIFA World Cup, thanks to the hard work of racecourses, supported by the RCA and GBR, we have managed to consolidate our place as the second-most attended sport.
“I am delighted by the continued growth of advance sales and believe this is fundamental to our mission to grow raceday attendance.”
“We are by no means complacent and will be working harder than ever to grow overall attendance in 2019. Our competition from other sports and the wider leisure sector is fierce, but we believe that a visit to the races offers a unique experience of fantastic sporting action and a wonderful day out with friends and family.”
