British racing battles to get new spectators to saddle up
PARIS—The packed stands at Epsom and Royal Ascot are just the images a sport wants beamed worldwide but away from the prestigious meetings racing faces a challenging time in attracting new spectators.
Worryingly for the ‘Sport of Kings’ the crown seemed to have lost a bit of its lustre with disappointing crowds for both the York and Chester festivals in May with high quality racing spread over several days.
At Chester attendance over the four days was 35,000, down 35% on the 53,500 that were at the corresponding fixture in 2019.
Ordinary midweek meetings are suffering too as racing like other sports and entertainment venues battle to attract footfall with the public ever more wary of spending money due to a cost of living crisis.
Rod Street, CEO of Great British Racing (GBR) which is the sport’s central promotional and marketing body tasked with increasing engagement with and participation in horse racing, told AFP the decline in attendances is a concern.
“The cost-of-living crisis is certainly a factor,” he said.
“Also following two years of extended lockdown periods (due to Covid-19), every sporting, leisure and entertainment offering is competing at once.
“We also believe that, after two years, people have got out of the habit.
“As ever, it is rarely one factor that affects the trend but rather several.”
Street had laid out at the beginning of the year in GBR’s manifesto they would target the 25-34 age group, though he concedes delivering the killer argument to persuade them to come racing is not easy. “It is a considerable challenge,” he said.
“Our consumer research informs us that the 25-34 year-old market demonstrates the best opportunity for growth, as this demographic consistently expresses an appetite to consider racegoing.
“Consideration is the stage that follows awareness and precedes purchase, so this insight is important.