Horse Racing

There are very close links between the betting and horse racing industries. Almost every day of the year there are horse racing meetings held in the UK. Gamblers who love to bet on sport regularly place bets on the many available races on sites, both in the UK and around the world.

How did betting on UK racing fare in 2024?

Turnover figures are available for the first three quarters of last year. That’s a key period for horse racing in the UK. Over the jumps, the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National are held.

🏇 That’s followed by the flat season with the four Classics (including the Epsom Derby) and meetings such as Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood.

Total turnover for betting on races in the first three quarters saw a fall of 9% when compared to the same period in 2023. When compared to the first three quarters of 2022, the turnover figure was 18.4% lower.

Why has there been a decline in total turnover?

A key reason is the fact that fewer races were staged. When that is taken into account, the decline in average turnover per race, when compared to 2023 is 6% and 13% with 2022.

It’s not just in the UK where betting figures are falling. In the US, there was a 3.35% decline last year. The total handle for 2024 was $11.2 billion, compared to $11.65 billion for the previous year, according to the latest report by horse.bet, an online horse racing betting guide.

It’s a long way below the $15.3 billion recorded in 2003. Not since 2021 has there been a higher figure than the year before but that was due to the pandemic hitting the industry in 2020.

👀 The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has the difficult task of working out the fixture list for the year. When it came to the 2024 list, they aimed at delivering a fixture list that was more competitive, engaging and exciting.

This saw the running of 170 Premier Racedays which aimed to have more top-quality horses running for an increased level of prize money.

Modelling projects estimate that there will be a £90 million improvement to the finances of British racing from 2024 to 2028. The opinion was that if a new strategy wasn’t introduced, revenues for the horse racing industry would continue to fall.

How new fixture list trials could affect your betting choices

The new innovations that have been included in the Fixture List have been given a two-year trial. It will therefore be interesting to see how 2025 progresses regarding areas such as betting, attendances, ownership and customer feedback.

That’s not the only reason though. There are concerns that the affordability checks that are being made on gamblers are hitting turnover figures. As there is talk of stricter regulation of the UK gambling industry, even stricter affordability checks are likely in the future.

This tightening of regulations has already happened in other countries such as Brazil.

Why affordability checks and regulations might impact your weekend racing

Horse racing on a Saturday afternoon can usually be quite hectic with several meetings being held. The new initiative by the HRA saw Saturday’s when just three meetings were being held between 2pm and 4pm.

• Betting turnover per race on these Saturdays were 10% higher compared to the busier days. The presence of higher class racing does attract more gamblers rather than plenty of lower level races.
• One trial that didn’t work in 2024 was Sunday evening fixtures. The hope was that these meetings would beat midweek floodlit fixtures (Tuesday to Thursday) by between 15 and 20%.
• This wasn’t the case in the first quarter of the year with total digital turnover only being 3.6% higher. The trial hasn’t been continued as a result of this and feedback received.

What you need to know about turnover trends and festival changes

Each year sees major racing festivals take place. The average turnover per fixture for these festivals fell by 12.4% compared to 2023. Reasons for this happening include the Grand National having an earlier start and there being one fewer race at the Cheltenham Festival in 2024.

Another reason was the fact that Royal Ascot was held at the same time as the European Football Championships.

🚨 One concern in the latter part of the year was Labour’s first budget since winning July’s General Election. There had been rumours that there would be increases in gambling taxes. That caused major worries over future revenue figures.

Thankfully, this didn’t take place and a huge sigh of relief could be heard around the country.

Greg Swift is the BHA Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs. He said that the decision not to increase gambling duties was “welcome given the potential impact on racing’s finances and its workforce.”

How government policies could shape the future of British horse racing

2025 will see further consultations being held between the government on the issue of gambling duties. The BHA will be part of this and Mr Swift says they will “ensure that racing’s position is fully understood.”

This year will see a reduction in the maximum stakes for online slot games and a compulsory levy to be paid by UK gambling companies. Again, there are fears this could see gamblers heading towards the black market.

Doing so would also affect the betting revenue on UK horse racing.

There is some concern though on how the racing and gambling industries will be affected by the decision to increase employers’ National Insurance Contributions to 15%.

💯 Lowering the level at which NIC payments must be made as well as changes to Inheritance Tax could also hit both industries.

Check out more gambling and betting related articles on the Roger.com blog.