Overall British attendances down in 2024 but abandonments cause increase to average figure

Overall attendances at British race meetings were slightly down in the first half of the year but the average crowd showed a small increase, according to figures published by the Levy Board on Tuesday.

The official statistics cover a period when there was a notable decline in turnout at the Cheltenham Festival but Royal Ascot reported an upturn at the gate.

A total of 2,314,458 people attended one of the 695 fixtures staged in Britain from January to June, a fall of 45,147 on 2023 or 1.9 per cent.

But there were 54 abandonments in 2024, compared with 38 in the same period last year, and the average therefore rose from 3,268 to 3,330 — an increase of 1.9 per cent.

Figures for the first three months of the year had shown improvements in both overall and average crowds, but they were slightly skewed by Easter falling in April in 2024.

Taken separately, the total attendance from April to June was down by 62,558 to 1,632,073, but there were 18 fewer meetings and the average crowd was up by 0.4 per cent.

Responding to the crowd numbers, the Racecourse Association (RCA) pointed to damaging effect of bad weather in the first half of the year, with rainfall 155 per cent above the Met Office average in April and 116 per cent above par in May.

But it pointed to high turnouts in June, when an overall attendance of 771,161 was up by 3.6 per cent on last year, even though there were ten fewer meetings, with increases at Royal Ascot (by 2.7 per cent) and the Derby meeting (4.6 per cent).

The figures come six months into a two-year trial of significant changes to the fixture list, with premierisation introduced as part of British racing's industry strategy.

RCA chief executive David Armstrong said: “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.

David Armstrong: “Attendances are broadly in line with 2023"Credit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

“The overall attendance figure is 1.9 per cent down compared to 2023, however our average attendance figure is 1.9 per cent 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 per cent up year-on-year, and average field size in the first half of the year, which increased from 8.5 to 8.8.”

Beverley lost its first scheduled meeting of 2024 and chief executive Sally Iggulden admitted the wet weather has been an issue since, although crowds have been on a par with last year at the ten fixtures which have taken place.

"The season really hasn't got going," she said. "It makes a difference. It's largely an outdoor sport and the idea is having a lovely day out.

"Since Covid advance bookings have been stronger as people got used to getting tickets beforehand but we rely on people sitting on a sunny day and thinking of going racing and that's not happening. You're not in the mindset of going out.

"The accuracy of the forecasts is also an issue, they're really inaccurate at the moment. All the apps gave terrible weather for the Friday and Saturday we raced earlier this month and  they were actually okay but I think they had an effect on whether people came because people don't want to go racing on a wet day."

Euro 2024 also had an effect and Iggulden said: "It's been a tricky year. We raced against England's quarter-final on the Saturday and we were about 1,500 down that day.

"But we are so fortunate to have a core of racegoers in Yorkshire – we rarely get an attendance of less than 2,000 whereas some courses would kill for that.

"Hospitality and higher-end packages have also been very strong this year. After Covid, businesses were quite cautious about entertaining but we've had an awful lot of returning customers coming back."

Read these next:

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'We're not being complacent' insists Jockey Club chief after total Cheltenham Festival attendance drops by 11,000 

'The battle with my weight has become unsustainable' - jockey Phil Dennis to retire after rides at Beverley on Tuesday 

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