Betting windows at California horse tracks remained closed for much of last year.
But people are still betting on races.
Fans wagered about $2.8 billion last season, just shy of the 2018-19 season’s total of about $2.9 billion.
Scott Chaney, executive director of the California Horse Racing Board, says remote betting on horses boomed during the pandemic, “and that can all be explained by people sitting on their couch wagering on horse races.”
“There has been a trend away from brick-and-mortar, satellite, on-track attendance,” he explained. “But COVID massively accelerated that.”
The vast majority of bets — nearly 80% — were placed remotely, and often out of state.
Chaney says he’s encouraged by the sustained level of interest in the sport, but he says race tracks will likely see less revenue as remote betting continues to grow.
While business may be good, the sport itself has not been free of trouble during the pandemic. In Berkeley, a huge outbreak of more than 300 cases at Golden Gate Fields forced the track to close for six weeks.
—Scott Rodd, Capital Public Radio and The California Report