Is the Melbourne Cup losing its appeal? Here’s what the numbers reveal

The Melbourne Cup, a 3200-metre race for horses more than three years old, has long been called “the race that stops the nation”.

Held each year on the first Tuesday in November at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, it attracts racehorses from overseas, politicians, sporting identities, fashionistas and others from among the wealthy and the famous.

It’s also a bonanza for betting companies. As Australia’s biggest one-day race gambling event, the total amount wagered currently exceeds that of any other Australian horse race by far.

But much of the gloss has been rubbed off. Other prestige races are coming up on its heels, and punters are increasingly drawn to betting on other activities, such as the AFL and NRL.

And there’s also been a long-term decline in interest in animal racing in general, amid growing concerns about animal cruelty.

So, is the Melbourne Cup still stopping the nation in the way it used to? Here’s what the numbers reveal.

Shrinking crowds

In 2003, in-person attendance at the Melbourne Cup was nearly 123,000, the biggest crowd since the turn of the millennium. By 2024, that had declined to 91,000.

The largest crowd in the intervening years was in 2010, when more than 110,000 attended.

The Victoria Racing Club argues active attempts were made to reduce crowd sizes after 2003, when it became clear that a crowd of more than 120,000 people made for an uncomfortable day at the races.

But the trend for attendance has been on a downward trajectory throughout the 21st century. There has been a modest recovery post-pandemic restrictions, but crowds are still well down from the peak.

A TV broadcast watched by fewer people across the nation

What about the Melbourne Cup’s TV audience? Many workplaces around the country still stop work to watch the race on TV – even in the work-from-home era. Victoria has a dedicated public holiday.

The Australian Financial Review reports that before 2015, the TV audience was more than three million. In 2021, that declined to 1.7 million, and in 2022 to 1.35 million.

A new broadcaster, the Nine network, took that viewership back up to 1.9 million in 2024. But it’s still well off its high.

Bookmakers’ big day – but it is falling

Bookmakers love the Melbourne Cup. It provides them with a major opportunity to sign up new, casual punters who open an account to place a bet on the day.

Once they’re on board, the marketing to these customers is unending.

In 2022, turnover on the cup – the amount that is bet, as opposed to revenue, which is the amount punters lose (and bookies keep) – was A$226 million.

By 2024, that had declined to $214 million.

According to Racing Victoria, this remains the highest race turnover in Australia, well above the next-placed. But it still represents a decline between 2022 and 2024 of about 13% in real terms (adjusted for inflation).

In recent years, total wagering turnover in Australia – meaning betting on any events, from sports to elections – has also surprisingly declined.

Total real wagering turnover was $22.3 billion in 2023-24, down from $31.2 billion in 2020-21 (again, in real terms).

A recent survey on gambling behaviour in New South Wales reported race wagering as a proportion of the NSW population declined from 24% in 2011 to 9.9% in 2024.

Participation in sports wagering in NSW, however, grew from 6.1% in 2019 to 7.6% in 2024, with stronger engagement among younger men.

Competition from ‘richer’ races

The Melbourne Cup also faces competition from relatively new entries in the prestige (group one) race stakes.

For example, since 2017, Racing NSW has run The Everest, now a $20 million race, at Royal Randwick racecourse in Sydney, on Caulfield Cup day. It has since moved to second place in wagering turnover, surpassing every other race except the Melbourne Cup.

However, wagering turnover is well behind the Melbourne Cup. Crowds are much smaller, too, at around 50,000. It needs to grow quite a bit to overshadow the Melbourne showpiece.

Societal shift

So, why is the Melbourne Cup, and horse racing generally, in decline?

Falling wagering overall, and the emergence of new gambling markets, go some way to explain it.

Researchers have also reported a societal shift towards “a strong animal ethics sentiment combined with a more generalised disdain towards the racing industry and its wider societal ramifications”.

The “#Nuptothecup” movement is credited with much of this shift. It runs a website listing alternative activities and providing arguments against animal racing.

The parent organisation of this movement, the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, runs a “deathwatch” cataloguing the number of racehorses killed in races – 175 in 2024-25. This has become an important issue for many.

Those who support the Melbourne Cup tend to rely on slightly opaque economic arguments – it employs people, generates revenue for Victoria and boosts business income because of tourism.

The Melbourne Cup is still big business. But it’s not as big as it used to be, either culturally or even in dollar terms.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation.