Ahead of the Cheltenham Festival, industry experts and data reveal consumer spend is set to spike, although affordability checks may impact one of the most anticipated events in horse racing.
Cheltenham begins today (14 March) and ends on Friday 17 March and, while betting volumes are set to rise, the festival will play out amid rising concerns about affordability checks on consumers.
A study conducted by YouGov – which was commissioned by the affiliate Online Betting Guide (OLBG) – surveyed a total of 1,007 gamblers in the UK between 23 February and 2 March.
It found that 11% of punters are gearing up to gambling more on Cheltenham this year than they did last year, compared to 10% who said they were planning to gamble less than they did at Cheltenham 2022.
A total of 23% said they were planning on gambling around the same amount on the event year-on-year.
In addition, 6% of those surveyed said they did not bet on Cheltenham last year but planned to do so this year, while 50% sai..