British bookmakers and horse racing organisers haven’t quite been seeing eye to eye over the past few months, but a new initiative involving Flutter Entertainment shows that the two sectors can still find common ground.

Also, in all fairness to Flutter, the Paddy Power and Sky Bet owner did not have the same harsh words for the September horse racing strike as the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), and the firm has routinely found itself backing racing in the tax debate.

While tax has dominated talk around betting and horse racing since early summer, this is not the focus of Flutter’s new partnership with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) – the duo are instead working together on how to grow racing’s audience.

The duo plan on hosting a horse racing summit at York Racecourse in February 2026. Christened the ‘Future of Racing’ Summit, the event aims to examine how the sport can attract a ‘new generation of racegoers’.

Brant Dunshea, Acting CEO of the BHA, said: “There are so many great ideas out there and the aim of the Future of Racing summit is to ensure that racing has the opportunity to hear them and, where appropriate, tap into what they could bring to the sport.

“I’d encourage everyone in the sport to engage with this process and come to York in February with an open mind, for what I’m sure will be an exciting and intriguing event.”

A familiar problem

Racing’s struggles with customer engagement and audience building are no secret. The sport has seen declines in in-person attendance over the past few years, with overall attendance in 2022 falling to below five million for the first time since the 1990s.

According to the Horseracing Betting Levy Board (HBLB) overall attendance stood at 4.83 million in 2023 and 4.79 million in 2024 – although a reduction in the number of fixtures meant that average attendance was actually up last year.

Racing stakeholders have been experimenting with how to address this for some time. Concerts at racetracks have become a common occurrence, for one thing, while the introduction of the Racing League in 2018 attempted to induce a football-esque regional club model to the sport, but was not as impactful as hoped.

The Summit’s agenda has been informed by data from Project Beacon, a survey of over 7,500 racegoers which aimed to find out what issues matter most to regular racing spectators, and how this can be used to further grow the audience.

Based on this, the agenda will cover four topics – horse welfare and techniques that can support this, education and how the sport can be simplified for newcomers, how the social and entertainment value of the racing experience can be amplified, and how racing fans can get immersive behind-the-scenes access to the racing world.

“We’re looking for bold ideas that can engage younger audiences and ensure the sport’s fan base remains strong for the generations to come,” Dunshea added.

“We’re eager to hear from as many startups as we can and very much hope as many as possible take up the chance to apply and make their mark on our sport.”

Flutter keeps racing and startups on side

Though its attendances may have struggled, racing remains a key market for British bookmakers – it is still the second most bet on sport in the country after football, and is highly unlikely to be unsteady any time soon.

TV exposure via deals with the likes of ITV means that bookmakers can also expect engagement with off-track bettors. Meanwhile, Racecourse Media Group (RMG) and SIS continue to keep betting shops, like Flutter’s Paddy Power outlets, served with live racing feeds, with horse racing being an integral product for retail betting.

Nonetheless, bookmakers’ big stake in the sport gives them a reason to want to see it thrive. Again, although the BGC and BHA may have a difference of opinion on how to persuade the government to avoid raising gambling taxes, the organisations continue to have a shared goal here.

For Flutter, the Summit has significance in another way, it marks a continuation of the company’s engagement with startups.

The firm has previously worked with tech startups via its Alpha Hub programme, which aimed to solve societal issues – the company is now looking to apply this approach to the issues faced by horse racing via the Racing Summit.

Startups are being encouraged to apply for scouting and inclusion at the Summit next year, with the main benefits to these firms being engagement with racing stakeholders and representatives, while Flutter and the BHA also expect venture capitalists to attend.

Sebastian Butterworth, Racing Strategy Director at Flutter UKI, said: “Flutter embodies the energy of startups — innovative, fast-growing businesses driven by entrepreneurs to create scalable products and services that disrupt markets.

“Just a few months ago we launched Timeform’s simplified QuickCard for newcomers to horseracing at York Racecourse, so we’re really proud to partner with the BHA and return for this potentially pivotal Future of Racing Summit in February.

“Project Beacon puts the customer at the heart of racing, and it’s vital that we come together to seek out solutions that directly address their concerns.”