Equibase, North American racing's official database, released Friday its January 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 saw a slight decline in January, dropping 1.82 percent from the first month of 2021 to the first month of 2022. With the 1.57 percent increase in race days, average wagering per race day also declined by 3.34 percent.
Compared to the first months of 2020 and 2019, however, total wagering was up 7.65 percent and 19.98 percent, respectively.
U.S. purses showed renewed strength to begin 2022, up by 15.48 percent compared to the same period last year, rising above $82 million. That figure is up by 13.85 percent since 2020, and by 4.71 percent since 2019.
Field size is down by 4.12 percent over last year, and by more than two percent compared to 2020 and 2019.
| January 2022 vs. January 2021 | |||
| Indicator | January 2022 | January 2021 | % Change |
| Wagering on U.S. Races* | $942,654,762 | $960,160,298 | -1.82% |
| U.S. Purses | $82,103,062 | $71,098,677 | +15.48% |
| U.S. Race Days | 259 | 255 | +1.57% |
| U.S. Races | 2,186 | 2,211 | -1.13% |
| U.S. Starts | 16,949 | 17,879 | -5.20% |
| Average Field Size | 7.75 | 8.09 | -4.12% |
| Average Wagering Per Race Day | $3,639,594 | $3,765,335 | -3.34% |
| Average Purses Per Race Day | $317,000 | $278,818 | +13.69% |
2020 Comparison:
| January 2022 vs. January 2020 | |||
| Indicator | January 2022 | January 2020 | % Change |
| Wagering on U.S. Races* | $942,654,762 | $875,647,020 | +7.65% |
| U.S. Purses | $82,103,062 | $72,116,730 | +13.85% |
| U.S. Race Days | 259 | 283 | -8.48% |
| U.S. Races | 2,186 | 2,352 | -7.06% |
| U.S. Starts | 16,949 | 18,692 | -9.32% |
| Average Field Size | 7.75 | 7.95 | -2.44% |
| Average Wagering Per Race Day | $3,639,594 | $3,094,159 | +17.63% |
| Average Purses Per Race Day | $317,000 | $254,829 | +24.40% |
2019 Comparison:
| January 2022 vs. January 2019 | |||
| Indicator | January 2022 | January 2019 | % Change |
| Wagering on U.S. Races* | $942,654,762 | $785,689,337 | +19.98% |
| U.S. Purses | $82,103,062 | $78,410,368 | +4.71% |
| U.S. Race Days | 259 | 265 | -2.26% |
| U.S. Races | 2,186 | 2,278 | -4.04% |
| U.S. Starts | 16,949 | 18,137 | -6.55% |
| Average Field Size | 7.75 | 7.96 | -2.62% |
| Average Wagering Per Race Day | $3,639,594 | $2,964,865 | +22.76% |
| Average Purses Per Race Day | $317,000 | $295,888 | +7.14% |
