The Business Of Horse Racing: What Football Clubs Can Learn

There are few more popular sports in the United Kingdom than horse racing and football. Both sports rank among the top two in terms of regular attendances, with millions showing their knowledge for the sports by betting on them weekly.

The success in terms of betting on racing ensures that it remains as popular in this modern day as ever before, with one of the key races coming in the form of the opening leg of the Triple Crown at Churchill Downs.

You can find out more about the famous race by checking out the 2026 Kentucky Derby handicappers. Still, can football learn anything from horse racing in terms of the business of the sport?

Engaging Fans of the Sport

In this modern day, there has never been a bigger disconnect between football clubs and their fans. Inflated ticket prices and outlandish costs of club and international shirts have seen supporters become disinterested in their teams on a bigger scale.

However, this is an area in which horse racing has thrived in recent history. The adoption of a syndication model of ownership has given greater accessibility to the sport for the average fan, giving those that typically wouldn’t have deep enough pockets to invest in a race horse the opportunity to do so.

This is certainly an angle that football could explore, providing fans a greater connection to the team that they love. An ownership experience would give spectators something more to their experience, and ensure a deeper connection to their team.

While this is unlikely to be an avenue for clubs in the Premier League, it could be a perfect opportunity for those in the Football League. Furthermore, it could generate a revenue stream to make teams more competitive, while also offering fans the opportunity to meet players and get closer to board members at a high level.

Creating an Event-Experience

Horse racing venues do an excellent job of attracting its visitors to the track hours before the action on track even starts. This ensures that major race days are lucrative affairs, with Racegoers spending more money at venues on food and drink, instead of just passing through the gates to watch the sport and go home.

This is also the case when it comes to the experience after racing, with many leading tracks putting on live bands to keep visitors at the venue for even longer. This is an area where football stadiums in the United Kingdom fall well behind. For the most part, fans will pass through the turnstiles just a couple of minutes before kick off, and they will likely leave a few minutes before the end of the 90 minutes to avoid traffic.

Football stadiums don’t provide an experience for the fans that attend games, with prices for food and drink being overly high compared to the quality sold. Offering cheaper products and different options to get visitors through the entrance earlier in the day could be a good selling point for stadiums.

This includes potentially putting on live music after the match, and also offering discounted drinks and food prices for the hours leading up to kick off in a way to create a more lively atmosphere inside the ground.

Sponsorships

Horse racing has the power to reach sponsorship agreements with a range of industries, with betting companies, jewellers, and insurance companies all sponsoring some of the biggest races in the diary.

However, this is a sector where many football clubs fall short, especially when it comes to reaching deals for high-end companies. For example, luxury jewellery company Boodles has been the sponsor of the Cheltenham Gold Cup since 2024, providing increased prize money for the biggest race on the National Hunt calendar.

Creating Gateway Events

Despite being one of the most followed sports in the country, it’s likely that newcomers to the sport of horse racing will know very little about the jockeys, trainers, and horses involved in the biggest races.

Therefore, the importance of gateway events can’t be understated. Major events on the calendar such as the Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot, and the Grand National gives racing an ability to sell itself to a broader demographic, with these events being watched by massive audiences compared to other events on the calendar.

Broadcasters then have the power to create an emotional narrative that can be connected to certain runners involved in big races, creating an important link for a newcomer to the sport. This is an area where football struggles to compete, especially at the highest level in the Premier League.

While EPL footballers will have different backgrounds in terms of reaching the top, it is typically unlikely that they will get an emotional reaction from viewers due to their incredibly high wages and luxurious way of life.

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