Total U.S. handle rises 3.3 percent in 2018

Total wagering on U.S. races in 2018 was up 3.3 percent from 2017 despite a 2.8 percent decline in the number of races held, according to figures released Friday by Equibase, with betting growth during the year aided by favorable tax-law changes and a generally strong economy.

The wagering total, $11.27 billion, was the highest figure for U.S. races since 2010, when betting on U.S. races was near the end of a long slide that reduced betting from a high-water mark of $15.2 billion in 2003 to the modern nadir of $10.4 billion in 2014. It was the fourth year in a row that betting on U.S. races rose compared to the year prior.

In 2010, U.S. racetracks held 46,379 races, while in 2018, U.S. tracks held 36,586 races, a reduction of 21 percent and the lowest number since 1960. The average amount bet on each race held in the United States in 2018 was $307,919, up 6.2 percent compared with the average in 2017 of $289,840.

The average purse in a U.S. race rose 6.5 percent to $30,590, extending a long run of record numbers. U.S. purses are heavily subsidized by casino revenues, and average purses also have benefited from the long slide in the number of races held. Total purses distributed during the year rose 3.5 percent to $1.12 billion.

Betting and purse figures increased against a backdrop of generally favorable economic conditions. Wagering most likely increased in part because of tax-law changes implemented in fall 2017 that were extremely favorable to horseplayers. Many officials had predicted that wagering could grow as much as 10 percent due to the tax-law changes, but those estimates proved to be off significantly, even when using average figures per race.

Nevertheless, wagering increased for the fourth straight year, and it showed its best one-year percentage gain since 2000, when wagering grew 4.6 percent. However, total wagering has lagged the inflation rate since 2014, with an inflation adjusted betting figure for that year of $11.33 billion, compared to $11.27 billion in betting in 2018.

Despite the 2.8 percent decline in the number of races held, field size continued to drop, declining 1.3 percent to 7.65 horses per race, down from 7.73 in 2017. It was the fourth consecutive annual decline for field size, which is a prime determinant of betting handle.

Wagering on U.S. races in the fourth quarter of 2018 was up 1.0 percent, to $2.42 billion, according to Equibase. The number of races during the fourth quarter declined 1.7 percent, with the average per-race handle jumping 2.7 percent. Because the fourth-quarter figures for 2018 are being compared to the fourth-quarter figures for 2017, when the tax-law changes had been put in place, the 2.7 percent rate of growth in per-race handle during the quarter indicates that wagering growth rates may slow in 2019 compared to 2018.