Like many outdoor events that don’t nestle into the elite bracket of major sports or one-off entertainment shows, like touring concerts, horse racing has been running an uphill battle since the turn of the decade. Tracks have needed to get creative with their offerings, trying to become even more inviting to visitors.

Half a decade later, and it looks like those efforts have worked. People are coming back to the racetracks to enjoy a day of racing, betting, and everything else that great racecourses offer. Perhaps it’s because of this return in interest that platforms not normally associated with the sport are now getting involved in their own ways.

Building on a Strong 2025

For the first time since 2019, the number of race-goers eclipsed five million at British racecourses during 2025. It’s a significant milestone and one that was celebrated by the BHA. The tally marked a good 4.8% increase in attendance on 2024, with the average attendance per meet going up by 3.6 per cent to 3,526 attendees.

Racecourses undergoing grand marketing campaigns and transforming with new experience initiatives are pointed to as being major contributors to the continued return to form for British racing attendance. Naturally, everyone in the industry just wants to keep this momentum rolling, and 2026 figures relay yet more growth.

Throughout the first quarter of 2026, per the Racecourse Association, 696,611 people went to a British racecourse. That Q1 stat marked a 4.5 per cent bump on Q1 2025. So, from an already very positive upward trend last year, this year is already proving to be even better for the trackside experience.

This is accentuated by the major fixtures, whose impact is illustrated by a recent report by New Horizons and the University of Reading, indicating Ascot's financial contribution of £264.5m

Luring in Other Interested Parties

With such huge platforms filled with content, that content becoming increasingly streamlined in its development, and there being so much competition online, you can always look to entertainment platforms to gauge what’s trending. Some end up being trendsetters, but much of what you see is aimed at catching onto a hot trend.

Over the last couple of years, a couple of platforms have looked to the drama and interest in horse racing to create new and engaging products. In the category of instant win games online, for example, there’s the Kick It! Multiplayer game to tap into this World Cup summer and a bunch of crash and plinko games that are trending right now.

Alongside them, there’s the modern Virtual! Horse Racing game, which introduces the sport to the growing category of instant win games. Different from what you’d think of as classic virtual horse racing online, this game lets you take your time, assess the ratings, use tipsters and specials, and then run it all at your own pace.

It’s not just online gaming that’s saddling up. Netflix made waves with its Race for the Crown docu-series last year. It followed the journey from the Breeder’s Cup to the Triple Crown over in the US and starred Frankie Dettori. One of his fellow jockeys of focus, Katie Davis then crossed the pond to test her talents at Ascot.

Horse racing is enjoying an upward trend right now, and it’s being noticed by the entertainment industry. Going through 2026, it’d be fair to say that we expect higher attendance figures and even more interest in the sport beyond the tracks.