Equibase, North American racing's official database, has released its February statistics for the industry's economic indicators, including field size, wagering, and other data, along with 2019 and 2020 comparables. The 2019 data is included as a pre-COVID-19 comparison.
Equibase is continuing to provide monthly reporting of its Economic Indicators Advisories as a service to the industry and in consideration of the economic changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Advisory is typically disseminated on a quarterly basis to provide key metrics used to measure racing's performance throughout the year.
Total wagering on U.S. races rose 8.4 percent in February this year, compared to the same month in 2021, topping $911 million. However, the average wagering per race day dipped significantly, by 7.6 percent.
A simple explanation is that there are simply more races occurring this year than last: 2,159 this February as compared to 1,928 in the same month last year. With the corresponding decrease in average field size, down 1.8 percent, it makes sense that while total wagering is up due to the increased number of races on offer, the slightly lower field size and only mild increase in available wagering dollars equates to the dip in average wagering per race day.
As compared to February of 2020 and of 2019, prior to COVID's shutdowns of racetracks and OTBs, average wagering per race day has shown increases in 2022, by 16.4 percent and by 18.6 percent, respectively. Along the same vein, total wagering showed an increase of 1.1 percent from February of 2020 to the same month of 2022, and an increase of 13.3 percent from February of 2019 to February of 2022.
| February 2022 vs. February 2021 | |||
| Indicator | February 2022 | February 2021 | % Change |
| Wagering on U.S. Races* | $911,115,787 | $840,562,361 | +8.39% |
| U.S. Purses | $75,817,377 | $62,100,791 | +22.09% |
| U.S. Race Days | 257 | 219 | +17.35% |
| U.S. Races | 2,159 | 1,928 | +11.98% |
| U.S. Starts | 16,364 | 14,880 | +9.97% |
| Average Field Size | 7.58 | 7.72 | -1.79% |
| Average Wagering Per Race Day | $3,545,198 | $3,838,184 | -7.63% |
| Average Purses Per Race Day | $295,009 | $283,565 | +4.04% |
2020 Comparison:
| February 2022 vs. February 2020 | |||
| Indicator | February 2022 | February 2020 | % Change |
| Wagering on U.S. Races* | $911,115,787 | $901,272,610 | +1.09% |
| U.S. Purses | $75,817,377 | $77,336,485 | -1.96% |
| U.S. Race Days | 257 | 296 | -13.18% |
| U.S. Races | 2,159 | 2,477 | -12.84% |
| U.S. Starts | 16,364 | 19,362 | -15.48% |
| Average Field Size | 7.58 | 7.82 | -3.04% |
| Average Wagering Per Race Day | $3,545,198 | $3,044,840 | +16.43% |
| Average Purses Per Race Day | $295,009 | $261,272 | +12.91% |
2019 Comparison:
| February 2022 vs. February 2019 | |||
| Indicator | February | February 2019 | % Change |
| Wagering on U.S. Races* | $911,115,787 | $804,192,002 | +13.30% |
| U.S. Purses | $75,817,377 | $69,055,700 | +9.79% |
| U.S. Race Days | 257 | 269 | -4.46% |
| U.S. Races | 2,159 | 2,334 | -7.50% |
| U.S. Starts | 16,364 | 18,266 | -10.41% |
| Average Field Size | 7.58 | 7.83 | -3.15% |
| Average Wagering Per Race Day | $3,545,198 | $2,989,561 | +18.59% |
| Average Purses Per Race Day | $295,009 | $256,713 | +14.92% |
* Includes worldwide commingled wagering on U.S. races.
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