BHA’s Racing Report: Attendance and Turnover Both Down
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has released its Racing Report for 2024, with a drop in betting on the sport revealed.
The BHA has released its Racing Report for 2024. © Getty images
Key Facts:
- BHA data shows betting turnover on British racing dropped by 6.8% compared with last year
- Betting turnover for the sport is now also down 16.5% compared with two years ago
- Changes made to the fixture list and race programme in 2024 boosted race competitiveness, says the BHA
- Longines World’s Best Horse Race at York in August and 2024 Juddmonte International Stake highlighted
Last year saw the BHA begin a two-year trial of fixture list changes designed to increase the popularity of the sport.
Longines World’s Best Horse Race at York and the Juddmonte International Stake were picked out by the BHA as two races that were particularly successful.
The BHA has a dozen targets it will continue to assess to run the rule over whether or not the trial is having an impact on its goal of securing the future of the sport.
Trial Successes and Failures
Premierisation is described as one of the key aspects of the BHA two-year trial period.
Richard Wayman, the BHA’s director of racing, described this as being “all about making the most of our biggest fixtures to grow interest in racing, ultimately at all levels”.
To do this, the BHA set up a new tiered fixture list that was designed to help fans of the sport of kings to identify the key headline events.
Investments in the prize money up for grabs were also made, along with improvements in the quality at Premier race days and reducing the congestion in the fixture list.
Sundays have become more important, with more meetings for fans to choose from. The BHA also aims to boost the competitiveness of British racing from top to bottom.
BHA data shows that the total attendance at British race meetings during the course of the year were 4,799,730, which is down by 0.7% from 4,833,944 in 2023.
Total Betting Turnover
Despite all the changes, the BHA report revealed total betting turnover on British racing during 2024 to have fallen by 6.8% compared with 2023.
With a drop of 16.5% compared with two years ago, there is concern about interest in horse racing betting being sustainable in the long run.
Wayman said: “There are several factors impacting that decline, many of which have nothing to do with the fixture list trial. I’ve no doubt that these are headed by the impact of affordability checks and the extent to which they have resulted in people either stopping betting or placing their bets with unlicensed operators where such checks don’t take place.”
In the report, it was also noted that Royal Ascot and the Coral Eclipse at Sandown, two of the major meetings of the year, were both impacted by clashing with the 2024 European Championship tournament.
The BHA also said it would publish its next report on the state of the trial at the end of Q1.
