The world community treats these sports differently: in some countries they are on a par with football, and in others they are added by Aussie casino and bookmakers to the line only in as exotic. The fact is that a number of conditions are necessary, without which it is impossible to development and popularization among the population. Horse racing is popular around 10-12 countries of the world, which is due to the following factors:
Historical background – for the first time, betting on the victory of stallions began in the UK, and immediately with the first races, which organized in the country since the beginning of the 16th century. So, historically this sport associated with the United Kingdom, therefore still popular among Englishmen who traditionally visit hippodromes, watch races and make bets on the best stallions. In general, in terms of betting volume, the leader in Great Britain is football, but the second place is occupied by horse racing and are considered to be the cornerstone of the British betting industry.
One of the largest sporting events in the country remains the world famous Grand National horse racing. In 2010, the competition collected more than 650 million viewers from all over the world. Another UK’s biggest competition, which is held for five days – The Royal Ascot. The event reached its maximum peak in 2018, when the turnover of horse racing bets amounted to an incredible amount of 4.3 billion pounds.
The state of the horse breeding industry – an overall assessment influenced by various parameters such as number of horses bred, frequency of events, the average involvement of one stallion in races during season.
The leading horse breeding country is the United States, since local farmers breed about 60 thousand heads annually, which equivalent to a quarter of the world population. H2 Gambling Capital data also confirm that horse racing is one of the most popular sports in the USA. Among the countries where intensive horse breeding is also include Australia, Argentina, Japan and France.
The spectacle of the competition – the brightest and most discussed races are held in United States, which is related to the number of trained stallions that take them participation. The second most spectacular competition is Australia. According to report of the International Equestrian Federation (IFHA), the gap between the two countries in terms of the number of races held is approximately 40%. Thanks and daily events, and major spectacular competitions for the year bookmakers accept more than $100 billion in bets on horse racing.
Financial indicators – these include parameters such as the turnover of bets on horse racing and world gross income. The statistics are compiled annually by IFHA and shows that a special attitude to horse racing is also observed in Japan.
According to them, about 94% of the total turnover of racing sports bets is accounted for by
about a dozen countries. The leading position in this list is occupied by Japan, where players spend about $20 billion a year on this sport, which commensurate with 1/4 of the entire market. It is also necessary to analyze the ranking of countries by gross income from betting is all revenue that is generated without tax deductions, payment to the organizers of the competition and other expenses. Betting Experts note that 95% of all horse betting revenue comes from approximately 12 countries. The leader is also Japan, and the second and third places are occupied by France and the USA, respectively.
The development of a network of hippodromes – for the possibility of organizing large-scale racing competitions are not enough to ensure a good population, since it is also necessary to organize a modern network of hippodromes.
Japan as a leader in the sum of bets on horse racing, offers 25 main racecourses, 10 of which are owned by the national racing association, and the rest are under administration of regional authorities. The situation is different in France, which is in the top five in terms of income. According to IFHA, there are 229 hippodromes, which are evenly dispersed across different regions.
Such their large number is another prerequisite for the fact that the French massively fond of horse racing and put on this sport. However, even more hippodromes represented in Australia – more than 450, so bets on thoroughbred horses is the second most popular sport in country after kangaroo.
As for dog racing, the birthplace of this sport is also England, where races started already in 1776. The first land-based bookmakers also appeared in the UK, so they included greyhound racing bets in the line ahead of other sports disciplines. And currently they are
traditional among British bookmakers. In Europe, this discipline is also has become quite popular, so special stadiums for races – cinemadromes – appeared in many other countries, including:
- Germany;
- Austria;
- France;
- Belgium;
- Netherlands;
- Denmark;
- Finland;
- Switzerland;
- Hungary;
Dog racing has also become very popular in Australia and the United States, where it is considered one of the spectator sports, and in terms of TV ratings they sometimes even surpass baseball, football and basketball. Separately, it is worth highlighting Australia, which occupies leading position in the world in terms of the amount of bets, although the racing industry is officially appeared in the country in 1930. Competitions of different classifications for this type sports are held in the country all year round, and the most famous places for their holding are:
- Wentworth Park, Sydney.
- Greyhound parks Sandown and Meadows, Melbourne.
- Kennington Speedway, Perth.
- Albion Park, Brisbane.
- Greyhound Park, Adelaide
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