Half year racecourse attendance figures released

(Image credit- Ripon Racecourse/Hannah Ali.)

• Average attendance across H1 increases 1.9%, total attendance decreases 1.9%.
• Abandonments increase from 38 to 54.
• Major events perform well in Q2 despite significant customer competition.

This figure is reflective of abandonments, which stand at 54 for the year to date, and represents a fall of 45,147 racegoers compared to 2023. The same period in 2023 saw 38 abandonments. The average number of racegoers has therefore risen year-on-year to 3,330 from 3,268, an increase of 1.9%.

The second quarter figures follow this trend, with a total of 1,632,073 racegoers visiting a British racecourse at 399 fixtures. This represents a decrease of 62,558 compared with the same period in 2023 from 18 fewer fixtures, providing an increase in the average number of racegoers of 0.4%.

The weather has proven to be a significant challenge for racecourses in the first half of the year. On top of an exceptionally wet first quarter, April saw rainfall at 155% above the Met Office average and May at 116% above the Met Office average. This was acutely felt in the North of England.

June represented a particularly strong month for attendance as racegoers enjoyed some of the sport’s biggest racedays. 771,161 racegoers visited a British racecourse during the month, an increase of 3.6% from 2023 despite there being ten fewer fixtures. As part of this figure, both Royal Ascot and the Betfred Derby Festival at Epsom Downs saw increases to their recorded attendances (2.7% and 4.6% respectively). Throughout the month, racecourses across the country have also had to work hard to compete with, and maximise cross promotion from, other significant events such as the UEFA Men’s European Football Championships and the Glastonbury music festival.

David Armstrong, Chief Executive at the RCA, commented: “The half year attendance figures continue to show how the public is reacting to not only our changing racing calendar but to wider considerations such as the cost of living and climate change. It is essential, therefore, that we are mindful of these considerations when continuing the development of the Industry Strategy and ultimately British racing’s proposition to customers.

“The overall attendance figure is 1.9% down compared to 2023, however our average attendance figure is 1.9% up. This indicates attendances are broadly in line with 2023 with some of the leading summer festivals ahead of us. I’m confident the sport’s collective efforts in the Industry Strategy will see this hard work reflected in an increase in customer engagement—we have seen that there are encouraging signs in some areas, such as June’s attendance return which was 3.6% up year-on-year and average field size in the first half of the year which increased from 8.5 to 8.8.”

H1 Attendance Snapshot

Q2 Attendance Snapshot