Q3 2024 racecourse attendance figures released

 

1.6m racegoers enjoyed a trip to the races this summer

Decreased number of fixtures brings completed Q3 racedays to 383

Q3 total attendance drops 5.1%, average attendance increases 0.2%

 

This figure is representative of 383 completed fixtures in the period, a reduction of 22 from the corresponding months in 2023. The number of abandonments, eight, has remained consistent, therefore providing an annual decrease (87,702) in total racegoers for Q3 but an increase in average racegoers per fixture (4,194 from 4,183).

Q3 Attendance Snapshot

	Fixtures Run	Abandonments	Total Attendance	Average Attendance
2024	383	8	1,606,461	4,194
2023	405	8	1,694,163	4,183

 

During an Olympic, Paralympic and major men’s international football tournament summer, the competition for public attention and spend was notable. A number of racecourses recorded strong returns for major summer festivals, which in light of this context is an even more positive result. Newmarket’s July Festival, Ascot’s King George Weekend, Ayr’s Gold Cup Festival and Doncaster’s St Leger Festival all saw marked increases in attendance from 2023.

The Q3 weather provided a further challenge for Britain’s racecourses to overcome. Met Office data revealed that during July, much of England experienced a wet month with the South West, South East and North East receiving more than the month’s expected rain within the first two weeks. A heatwave then occurred into August, closely followed by Storm Lillian. This storm meant that Britain endured more named storms in the 2023/24 calendar than since records began (2015). September proved to be a cold, wet month with temperatures below average across the country. Southern England in particular received a deluge of rain—the third highest total recorded and wettest since 1918.

Year-to-date Totals

Q3’s figures bring the total racegoers for 2024 to 3,918,422 from 1,076 fixtures. This is a decrease of 3.3% from 2023, when 4,053,768 racegoers attended 1,121 fixtures. 2024’s total figure for abandonments now stands at 64, an increase from 46 in 2023.

This reduction in fixtures and increased abandonments has naturally lowered the total attendance figure and increased the average figure from 3,616 in 2023 to 3,642 in 2024.

Year-to-date Attendance Snapshot

	Fixtures Run	Abandonments	Total Attendance	Average Attendance
2024	1,076	64	3,918,422	3,642
2023	1,121	46	4,053,768	3,616

 

David Armstrong, Chief Executive at the RCA, commented: “The Q3 attendance figures are always an important metric to note due to the volume of fixtures run as the sport ramps up for the summer. There is no finer day out than a day’s racing in the British summer, although we accept this year we were competing against a significant sporting summer with the Olympics, Paralympics and Men’s Euros plus the added variable of the changeable weather. Once again, I must pay tribute to groundstaff across Britain’s racecourses to work in such difficult conditions and produce world-class racing surfaces.

“With that context, racecourses have performed well to maintain a consistent trend on attendances year-on-year. As seen previously with our review of January-June data, the total attendances are slightly down and average attendances are slightly up—this is largely due to the number of fixtures being reduced and increased abandonments outside of the sport’s control.

“I was pleased to see a number of our sport’s major events perform well over the summer, across a wide geographic range. I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues across the sport to ensure these major events are a catalyst for future growth.”