Thoroughbred racing and the New York Racing Association have enjoyed a growth on television despite the loss of racing dates and on-track wagering because of the coronavirus pandemic. The growth mirrors the decline in pro and college sports resulting from the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“Looking across the whole portfolios of sports properties we have across sports television, the two properties that have managed the circumstances (during the pandemic) the best are NASCAR and horse racing,” said Michael Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ executive vice president of research, league operations and strategy. “They are the two that have risen to meet this moment and have put themselves in a better position for the future. I think horse racing and our NYRA programming has really stepped up to fill the void, and it’s been beneficial to horse racing and to us.”
The broadcast network is the crown jewel of coverage, according to The BloodHorse. “It’s where our most important events live, and it’s great to have an opportunity to elevate horse racing to the biggest possible stage,” Mulvihill said.
Coverage also reflects the success of Fox through NYRA’s “America’s Day at the Races” shows on its FS1 and FS2 cable networks. These events showcase Belmont Park and Saratoga. Total viewership for horse racing is up 300 percent since the start of the year.
“I don’t think you can overstate how important it’s been to Fox to have that live-event content. We’ve been able to do many, many more hours of live NYRA broadcasting on FS1 than we’ve ever been able to do before,” Mulvihill said.
Total consumption of horse racing—the size of the audience coupled with the minutes watched—grew to 1.45 billion this year as opposed to 365 million at the same point in 2019. The numbers remain strong even as professional sports have begun to return, with a handle of $35.7 million for the August 1 Whitney Day at Saratoga.
“For months we wondered how horse racing would fare once other sports staged their comebacks,” Mulvihill said. “When we got to Whitney Day, that was a full day of sports programming with baseball, the NBA, the NHL, the PGA in action, and total sports viewing across all networks was up considerably over the same day a year ago.”
Yet in spite of all that competition, the Whitney Day handle rose to an all-time high in all-sources handle.
“The ratings were good and the betting was probably better. The total viewing has exploded.”
NYRA Bets wagering platform enjoyed triple digit growth in handle and new accounts.
“The NYRA Bets team, in conjunction with Fox, has done a really good job in reaching the casual sports and sports betting fans to get them to open accounts,” Tony Allevato, the president of NYRA Bets and executive producer for NYRA TV said. “We’ve seen a massive growth in customer base and traffic, and people are betting smaller amounts, which says they are not traditional horse racing fans.”
The current 40-day Saratoga meet, has produced a handle through 15 days of $271 million, an increase of 22.6 percent over the 2019 figure. Meanwhile, Belmont Park’s spring/summer meet experienced a 42 percent jump in average daily handle to $15.4 million.
Horse racing success is not limited to New York State. After closing in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, horse racing has returned to the Downs Racetrack and Casino. Fans can even enjoy the races in person, but only at one of the tracks restaurants. Track officials said they can accommodate about 200 people in their restaurants while operating at half capacity.
Workers must don masks as well, according to KOB4.
“It’s a big deal to be able to come out here and watch the horses run. It’s a big deal for me especially when we own the horses. It’s been nice to see some people we haven’t seen since the virus It’s kind of nice to see things getting back to normal, even in a weird way,” said one horse owner.
With more tracks coming online in July, there was a significant increase in handle compared to the prior year.
Bettors wagered more than $1 billion on U.S. races in July. The handle for the month jumped 16.6 percent compared with the same month in 2019. Credit advance deposit wagering platforms where fans can bet from the home.
Equibase released wagering figures on August 5, which improved in July to $1.2 billion. The number of racing cards rose from 300 in June to 398 in July, according to BloodHorse. But the total fell 17.8 percent compared with July 2019, when 484 race cards were offered.
For the year to date, handle on U.S. races is down 7 percent compared with the first seven months of 2019. But available races as handle per race day rocketed 41.7 percent to $3.6 million.
The loss of race days has also hurt purses, which are down 36 percent to $414.4 million. July fell 12.7 percent to $90 million, matching the decline in races.
