Dollars & Sense: Record U.S. Purses in 2022

Thanks in large part to added gaming pumping up numbers, United States racing awarded record purses in 2022 of nearly $1.31 billion. One might even call the numbers "historical."

Putting aside the COVID-19 impacted year of 2020, it's the third straight season that United States tracks have awarded record purses—and 2022 shattered last year's mark. After reaching a record of nearly $1.17 billion in purses in 2019, the figure inched up to more than $1.18 billion in 2021. But in 2022, handle skyrocketed nearly 11% to $1,309,837,841, according to a Jan. 5 Equibase release of Thoroughbred Racing Economic Indicators.

It's a well-timed increase, as inflation has impacted the country. The annual inflation rate for the United States is 7.1% for the 12 months ended November 2022 after rising 7.7% previously, according to U.S. Labor Department data published Dec. 13.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association welcomed the news on record purses.

"Thoroughbred racing purses and pari-mutuel handle continued to exhibit strength in 2022," said NTRA president and CEO Tom Rooney in a release. "Purses were up double-digit (percentage points) year over year and reached an all-time high thanks in part to contributions from other gaming sources."

In terms of those other gaming sources, historical horse racing continued its success in both Kentucky and Virginia. For the first time in the Bluegrass State, available purses surpassed $200 million in 2022—according to data from Equineline for Churchill Downs, Ellis Park, Keeneland, Kentucky Downs, and Turfway Park. The $206,330,131 in available purses was up 54% compared with 2021. While the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland accounts for some of those 2022 purses, consider that the previous two years Keeneland hosted the Breeders' Cup, 2020 and 2015, Kentucky's available purses were $122.6 million and $100.3 million, respectively. 

While not on that level in terms of total dollars, Virginia has seen similar percentage growth. Colonial Downs' available purses surpassed $15.5 million in 2022, up 50% from the 2021 season.

While U.S. purses continued to reach new heights in 2022, pari-mutuel wagering could not sustain its momentum. In 2021 handle reached its highest mark since 2009 at $12,215,598,838, but in 2022 handle dropped 0.87% to $12,108,807,335. The decline occurred despite a 0.79% increase in race days, although total races fell 0.33% to 33,453.

The industry did not close out the year well in terms of pari-mutuel handle as it declined 7.52% in December and 5.54% in the final quarter when compared with the same time frames in 2021. Rooney expressed optimism that pari-mutuel wagering can be increased in the years to come if it properly aligns itself with sports betting.

"Pari-mutuel handle was nearly equal to 2021 and the second-highest since 2009. These business trends occurred during a year of unprecedented growth in legal, state-regulated sports betting," Rooney said. "The 2023 gaming landscape promises to be more competitive than ever for the sports wagering dollar. It also represents a huge opportunity to introduce pari-mutuel wagering and the sport of Thoroughbred racing to a vast new audience if we as an industry embrace the challenge."  

The Dollars & Sense column appears twice a month in BloodHorse Daily.