Facts and Figures
Demographics of Racing
Audiences
- In 2008 5.7 million people went racing.
- 26% of the British population have been racing, but not in the past 12 months
- 10.8m people watched The John Smith’s Grand National on BBC1 in 2008
- 4.3m people on average watch the Derby on BBC1
- 40% of racegoers are female
- 30% are aged under 35 years
- 28% of racegoers come from the wealthy “AB” socio-economic grouping
General Statistics
- There are 60 active racecourses in Great Britain (Soon to be 61 when Ffos Las racecourse opens later this year)
- 19 stage only Flat racing
- 24 stage only Jump racing
- 17 stage both
- 5 stage All-Weather flat racing, 3 under floodlights
- Horseracing is the second most televised sport on terrestrial tv after football – accounting for 9.5% of total sports coverage on terrestrial TV, 5.3% of sports coverage on BBC and 33% of sports coverage on Channel 4.
- Horseracing boasts two dedicated horseracing Channels: Racing UK which is a digital subscription channel and also part of the Setenta sports package, and At The Races which is part of the basic Sky package.
- Horseracing is broadcast into around 8,500 betting shops across Britain, realising average midweek audiences of 700,000 and this figure rises to 1m on Saturdays and high profile racedays.
- Horseracing and the bloodstock industry support some 88,000 jobs. Britain's largest sporting employer
- There are over 9,500 active racehorse owners and around 15,000 horses in training in Britain.
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