Annual Racecourse Attendance Figures Hold Firm with 4.83m Racegoers

• 83m racegoers visited a British Racecourse in 2023
• Average attendance trends upwards to 3,394, an increase of 1.43%
• Q4 attendance data continues the sport’s strong second half of the year

Annual racecourse attendances at British racecourses remained at 4.83m in 2023, a repeat of the number posted in 2022.

Throughout the year a total of 4,836,406 racegoers attended a race meeting at 1,425 fixtures, providing an average attendance of 3,394. This represents an increase of 1.43% on 2022’s average of 3,346.

2023 saw the sport encounter multiple significant operational challenges which affected attendance, including numerous rail strikes on key racing days and the threat of protest activity. Extremes in weather also resulted in a higher number of abandonments than in 2022, with 105 in 2023 compared with 75 the previous year.

Within that context, there were a number of metrics to give encouragement. Major festivals in the second half of the year saw increased numbers of racegoers demonstrating the public’s appetite for elite racing and summer celebration. Newmarket’s July Festival (9.7%) and Cambridgeshire Meeting (21.6%), the Qatar Goodwood Festival (4.8%), Haydock Park’s Sprint Cup meeting (8.2%) and the Ayr Gold Cup (4.3%) all saw marked attendance rises compared to 2022.

Equally, summer jump racing saw a marked increase in attendances with a near 25% increase year-on-year, with 74,803 attendees in August 2023 compared to 60,130 in August 2022. 

August was a fantastic month for racecourses with 690,432 racegoers attending a meeting, a 20% increase from 2022. Ascot’s Shergar Cup meeting was the most noteworthy in terms of attendance increase, with an additional 8,000 racegoers visiting compared to 2022 and helping the Berkshire track to record its highest number for the fixture since 2018 (24,701).

David Armstrong, Chief Executive of the Racecourse Association, commented: “I am pleased to see the attendance returns for Q4 represent another strong period for British racecourses. Over the second half of 2023, we have seen some encouraging results with a number of fixtures exceeding 2022 levels and, in some cases, pre-pandemic levels.

“As in every year, there are winners and losers when it comes to the Great British weather. Racecourses have had their fair share of challenges on top of this unavoidable element, so to withstand that and finish the year with such positive numbers leaves me heartened for 2024.

“One of the key metrics of the industry strategy is to grow attendances, so our attention now turns to this and to supporting racecourses in both the Premier and Core segments.”