The second day of the Cheltenham Festival 2010 has stirred up more excitement than ever. More than £600 million of gambling is expected to be done during this festival, especially since 26 races will be held in the UK. The Cheltenham Festival, which is the largest event of the racing season, always means huge gambling business.
The festival features the best racehorses and a crowd of over 200,000 spectators. Millions more will be watching the festival on television. This means that bookmakers are going to make plenty of money. Paddy Power, the head of the Ireland-based bookmaker that is named after him, called the festival a “proper bonanza.” He also says that the bookmaker sees more business during the 4 days of the Cheltenham Festival than in 3 normal weeks.
Director of Sponsorship at Cheltenham Racecourse Peter McNeile says that the festival is generating £7 million in gate receipts alone. He labels the festival as “very profitable.” In addition to the gate receipts, £2 million is collected in sponsorship alone, he says and adds that Cheltenham Festival owes its phenomenal success to the top quality of its excellent racehorses, which are the best of National Hunt horses.
Surprisingly, the recession has not made any difference to the attendance at the racecourses of Scotland, Wales, and England. The governing body says that 5.7 million racing enthusiasts visited the races in 2009, which is slightly more than the 2008 figure. Simultaneously, the racing industry says that it is failing to attract young adults who clearly prefer ball sports to racing.