Scottish Racing rebuilds from pandemic, with an aim of reaching £0.5 billion in economic value
Scottish Racing’s latest Annual Review shows Scotland’s racecourses are set to rebuild attendances lost through the pandemic with a target of attracting nearly 300,000 racegoers each year from 2025 onwards. This is a return to, and improvement on, pre-pandemic levels.
Racing remains the second most popularly attended sport in Scotland, after football. Racing in Scotland attracts a diverse section of society with nearly nine out of ten (89%) of racegoers comprising of both middle and lower socio-economic groups. Females account for half of all racegoers in Scotland.
By 2025, the impact of Scottish horseracing is projected to rise from just over £300m in 2016 to over half a billion pounds of revenue for Scotland’s economy (£513.6m) with £50m in tax revenues each year, most of which goes to the Scottish Government.
Additionally, Scottish racing is set to support 3,720 jobs across Scotland including employment across Scotland’s racecourses, tourism activities supported by racegoers spending money in the local area. Scottish racing also sustains jobs through the development of racehorses, media coverage of race days and off-course betting.
Scottish Racing has expanded significantly over the last twenty years, with the number of attendances increasing by nearly one quarter (23%), and an increase in prize money by 70% over the last decade, ahead of racing in the rest of Great Britain.
Nearly two thirds (65%) of the overall economic impact generated in Scotland, dependent on attendances and income drawn from other parts of Great Britain, in addition to gambling and media coverage on racing outside of Scotland.
Scottish Racing Chief Executive, Delly Innes, said “the pandemic obviously dominated every part of the racing industry for the past two years, but thankfully we can now look forward to building on an increased appetite for outdoors and active tourism. By working closely with other local cultural and tourism assets, Scotland’s racecourses can potentially raise the economic impact of Scottish horseracing to nearly £540m million and sustain nearly 3,900 jobs by 2025.”
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The Annual Review & Prospectus can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/3Y5r3vz
For up to date information on horseracing in Scotland, see the Twitter feed (@ScottishRacing) and www.scottishracing.co.uk for all the latest news.
Scottish Racing promotes and supports the sport of horseracing throughout Scotland and its five racecourses: Ayr, Hamilton Park, Kelso, Musselburgh, Perth.
For further information, please contact Delly Innes on delly@scottishracing.co.uk, or telephone 01835 840315 / 07970 229507.