Originally written by Alan Bruce for our June 2025 edition of “Inside The Unit”, this article explores how horseracing betting can embrace modernisation through gamification — and why it matters now more than ever.
When it comes to betting on horseracing in the UK, and across other parts of Europe, the perception is not always positive. The average person may relate betting on the sport to smoky high-street betting shops and an unwelcoming environment that does not appeal to younger or new players.
With the rest of the industry advancing at a spectacular pace, how has horseracing been left so far behind?
Confused Customers
One standout differentiator of betting on horseracing is that many bet types can be complex and esoteric, while the terminology of the sport itself is often very jargonistic. Picking a horse to win is easy enough, but then the customer needs to know whether to place the bet each way or not, whereby win and place stakes are equally divided into two bets.
To make things even more complicated for the layman, the price of the horse is not necessarily the price the bookmaker will pay out at. If you don’t specifically ask for a price, then you’ll be given the starting price (SP), and as the odds of each horse can fluctuate wildly before the race, you could end up with very different prices by the time the race starts.
Some bookmakers also offer guaranteed prices, which allow the player to take a “board price” before the race, and then get paid out on the higher price (whether it’s that board price, or the subsequent starting price if preferable) when the race is settled.
Already, we’re talking about rules just for backing a horse, but that doesn’t take into account the other complexities of more bet types (try working out a permed flag with a banker and a rule 4 manually) and forecast bets (straight forecasts, reverse forecasts, combination forecasts, tricasts etc.).
In 2025, some of the bets available on horseracing are effectively ‘dumbed down’ online, but most operators still cover bets such as Lucky 63s, with 63 separate lines covering six selections and consisting of six singles, 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, six five-folds and one six-fold accumulator.
The challenge of displaying this in a user interface makes it difficult for horseracing to appeal to a younger, emerging market, especially when the bettor also has the choice of betting on sports such as football, tennis, basketball etc.; popular sports where the betting terminology is easier to understand.
Declining Engagement and an Aging Audience
The fall in engagement within the racing industry can partially be explained by the growth of betting on other sports, but another major contributing factor is an audience that is not showing any signs of getting younger; the demographic of people betting on racing is largely middle-aged or older.
In 2024, the UK Horseracing Bettors Forum ran its annual survey looking into challenges faced by those who like to bet on horseracing. The breakdown of age demographics from its 205 respondents was very telling, with just 1% of them being aged between 18 and 25.
While that figure may change by country and platform, this shows a distinct lack of engagement from the younger generation.
Why It’s Time for Gamification in Horseracing
Gamification is the ability to apply elements of gameplay, such as scoring, leaderboards etc. into aspects of another industry. It has been used widely in the app industry to gamify lots of different industries, including language learning, fitness and education.
Gamification in horseracing could not only simplify the complex set of rules surrounding the sport, but also give the user betting options which require no previous knowledge of the racing industry. A simple bet such as ‘will the winning horse be an odd or even number’ makes this a bit more of a 50-50 style bet, such as ‘red or black’ in roulette.
There is a natural overlap between racing and gaming. When you take into account the massive amounts of data, the wide-ranging markets and bet types, and the unpredictability of the outcome of each race (to an extent), there is ample opportunity to bring in some modernisation.
The racing industry is ripe for modernisation and gamification to introduce it to new and emerging markets. Simple changes like odd and even bet types can introduce a whole new audience to racing, because the player won’t feel they need to go on an extensive learning course before making a bet.
Gamification in Action
Gamification is something we are already starting to see in horseracing. Some examples of this include:
- Fantasy horseracing apps.
- Non-fungible token (NFT) horseracing stables — the user can buy a horse, train it up and enter it into virtual web3 races to earn money.
- Interactive betting platforms with different race types (you can race with pigs, chickens and even virtual unicorns).
- Augmented reality and virtual reality experiences of the track.
- Reward systems and social leaderboards which further motivate players to do well.
- Simplified gaming bet types to increase engagement.
While this is the path the industry is already beginning to tread, we would champion an effort to further enhance these gamification features in racing in the coming years. The industry needs to look at every emerging trend and figure out how it can attract a younger audience. A diversified betting cohort is essential not just for the horseracing betting industry, but for the entire track racing industry.
What’s Next for Racing’s Digital Future?
Here at The Unit, horseracing is not just an important part of our business; we also love the sport. We work with some of the industry’s most prominent names to provide bespoke software for the sport of kings.
Despite the issues we’ve mentioned, we feel horseracing has plenty of scope to move into the modern era with a fresh and innovative approach. We’re keen to help with the modernisation and rejuvenation of one of the best sports in the world.
We are currently working on a number of products that are advancing the gamification of the industry, and would love nothing more than the opportunity to discuss how our game-changing solutions can shake up the market.
If you’re exploring ways to future-proof your product, explore our betting and iGaming development services or contact The Unit. We’d love to hear from you.
