01 cover sbi 152.indd - FIFA/CIES International University Network

RIGHTS FOCUS:
JUMP RACING
JUMPING FOR
SUCCESS
The National Hunt horse racing season is in full swing, attracting large
crowds and betting revenues. As Adrian Hill explains, British Jump racing
is in rude health.
BY ANY REASONABLE MEASURE the British
Racing industry is at the forefront of the UK
sporting and leisure markets, and the Jump
racing sector plays a major part in that success
story. The quality and breadth of the National
Hunt scene in the British Isles is unrivalled
anywhere else in the world.
The Grand National and the Cheltenham
Festival are renowned as two of the UK’s
top sporting events, attracting extensive TV
coverage. While 5.7 million spectators attended
the 60 tracks operating in Britain in 2008, a
figure second only to football among UK sports.
Bearing in mind that the highlights of the
National Hunt season occur during the winter
and early spring months, a tally of two million
people going through the gates to see steeple
chasing is some achievement.
According to the British Horseracing
Authority’s Economic Impact report, UK
racecourses produced revenue of £456 million
in 2008 - a sum bettered only by football and
£90 million more than the third-placed sport,
rugby union.
“I think British racing is in a pretty healthy
state,” says Alan Switzer, director of the Sport
Business group at Deloitte which produced the
study. “Our report relies mostly on data from
2008. Due to the recession, in some instances
the figures might show peaks for some time. But
attendances, the number of racehorse owners
and media coverage are all in a healthy state.
Crowds in 2009, up until the end of September,
were marginally up too.”
The report also reveals that the UK
government was handed £325 million in tax
income from British racing and its role as a
very significant employer. Only a handful of
British rugby stadia could accommodate the
18,600 working full-time within the core racing
industry, while if those who earn a living from
related fields, such as betting, are included
even Twickenham would not be big enough. An
estimated 100,000 people directly or indirectly
look to racing for their livelihoods. Success
comes from investment and £706 million
worth of capital resources were spent on the
racecourses from 2004 to 2008. This added
to the annual £400 million that the 50,000
racehorse owners contribute, a significant
proportion of which is inbound from major
overseas benefactors.
The effect of the recession has made the
loyal band of owners dwindle slightly. Racing
is an expensive sport, although unlike its Flat
counterpart, Jump racing at the highest level,
is not the sole playground of the extravagantly
wealthy. Switzer reports that owners are feeling
the pinch.
“The number of owners has gone down this
year, but has by no means fallen off the cliff.
Where we have seen a marked decline is in
bloodstock, the buying and selling of horses.
However, the big yearling sales in October held up
reasonably well, thanks to the support of wealthy
benefactors such as the Maktoum family.”
Affluent patriarchs
The seriously affluent racing patriarchs tend to
concentrate on the Flat, where the long-term
bounty available from the breeding of champion
racehorses dwarfs prize money. A top-class
stallion earns a five-figure stud fee, with recently
retired Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
hero Sea The Stars expected to attract nearly
£100,000 every time he is matched with a mare.
The practice of gelding top-class National
Hunt performers means that avenue is not
open to its owners and a major attraction
of the winter sport is the continuity
provided by its top horses returning
season after season. Followers identify
with them and there is a clear structure
to the campaign, with Cheltenham and
Aintree providing a rousing climax.
Take the two superstars of the respective
racing codes in Europe this year. Sea The Stars
has been packed off to stud after a career of only
two years while Cheltenham Gold Cup winner
Kauto Star aims to retain his crown next March
to round off a sixth campaign in the UK, having
previously raced in France.
“It’s a fantastic storyline for broadcasters
and the public at large,” says Peter McNeile,
Cheltenham’s sponsorship director. “If Channel
4 were to ever lose the Festival, their interest
in racing would probably wane. If a horse wins
a race in December there is always talk about
which race at the festival it is being aimed at - it
engages the occasional viewer.”
Cheltenham - Getty Images Sport
62 SportBusiness International • No. 152 • 12.09