Irish crowds down by 8.8 per cent but fall 'not a major worry' say racecourses

A sharp drop in attendances for the first half of 2022 is a challenge Irish racing is more than capable of overcoming, according to the chief executive of the country's 26 racecourses.

A Racing Post study revealed British racing has suffered from a greater decline in attendances than many other sports, with a 17.6 per cent decline in the first half of 2022 compared to 2019, the last full year without any Covid-19 related crowd restrictions.

According to Horse Racing Ireland figures, almost 506,000 racegoers attended Irish racecourses between January and June this year, a fall of 8.8 per cent from 555,000 in 2019. On-course betting and Tote turnover have also fallen.

However, for Paddy Walsh, chief executive of the Association of Irish Racecourses, the drop is "a slight cause for concern but not a major worry at this stage".

He said: "We'd like to think we'll get those numbers back. The situation in Britain is a little worse than here, but a decrease of eight or nine per cent at this stage is not too bad in the overall scheme of things.

“Given the Covid situation there are still a lot of people out there reluctant to go back into big crowds. We have work to do to get those numbers back – it’s a challenge but one we are certainly up to.”

There was a nine per cent drop in attendance at the Galway festival compared to 2019, the last time full crowds were permitted at the meeting, and Walsh pointed to a number of contributing factors.

The Galway festival also experienced a drop in attendancesCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

“We hosted a dinner in Galway for all the racecourses on the Monday of the festival, and some people were staying as far away as Athlone as it was the closest place they could get accommodation,” he said.

“That would have been a big factor for Galway and there are others at play that could influence crowd numbers, such as cost.”

Walsh added: “HRI is funding a good advertising campaign at the moment to get people back racing, while individual racecourses are stepping up in terms of their own initiatives. Hopefully we’ll be able to turn that statistic around and be looking at something more positive by the end of the year."

Read more here:

Galway boss 'far from disappointed' despite 9.6 per cent drop in festival crowds

'It's a sign of the times' - crowds drop at five of six tracks on Super Saturday

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