Betting Rings Report 16.6 percent Growth: What’s Behind This Upsurge? The Irish Angle team are “delighted” to see figures from Horse Racing Ireland that show turnover from bookmakers in the ring up by 16.6% to €31.5m. The figure comes from HRI’s latest report for the first half of 2025, with the numbers compared to the same period last year. It comes as a surprise to some with the popularity of betting apps for on-course punters. “This really is a surprise to me,” irishracing.com editor Vincent Finegan commented on this week’s Irish Angle podcast. “People were talking over the last five or 10 years about the death of the ring and ‘oh, it's in turmoil and there's nothing happening and it's dead’. “Yet, they're up 16.6% in the first six months this year compared to the first six months last year in turnover. That's really positive. British Punters Playing A Role AK BETS trader Ronan Groome explained that the popularity of Irish meetings among UK racing fans may have contributed to the increase. “The big festivals are doing well and still are,” Groome explained. “[There is] a huge contingent from Britain. I think it's getting more popular, to be honest with you. “I think probably the likes of Cheltenham shooting themselves in the foot to an extent has helped festivals like Punchestown and the Dublin Racing Festival. “I think you’ve got more people coming over to the likes of Killarney as well, and we'll see maybe in Listowel later in the year. “They're pretty strong and yes, look, the day-to-day stuff during the week can be quiet, of course.” Betting Ring Still Plays A Key Role Racing pundit Johnny Ward also noted the competitive nature of prices in the ring may be attracting punters who would otherwise be betting elsewhere. “They will absolutely fight each other for prices [in the betting ring]. You go into the betting shops now and you're getting different prices, you're getting different each-way terms. “You're ultimately getting the high streets that are caring less and less about racing. That's a major, major thing. “They really could do without racing. They don't care about it that much anymore. That's not the case in the betting ring, where that's all they have. I'm delighted to see those figures.”
