The enduring charm of the Bangalore Derby

  

Racing No Longer Pays for Racing!

 

By Sharan Kumar

 

The 111th Annual Report of the Royal Western India Turf Club raises a fundamental question for those running the institution: can horse racing at RWITC sustain itself financially from horse racing? The numbers suggest that it cannot.

 

The Club reported an overall deficit of ₹12.48 crore for 2025-26. More revealing, however, is the segment-wise position. Racing generated ₹33.41 crore against expenses of ₹57.25 crore, resulting in a deficit of ₹23.84 crore. The corresponding racing deficit in the previous year was ₹9.85 crore. This is not simply an accounting issue. It raises questions about the financial sustainability of the Club's core activity.

 

Where racing's revenue comes from

 

The racing operation earned ₹8.91 crore from bookmakers' stall fees, ₹1.21 crore from Tote commission and ₹0.39 crore from Tote fixed-odds betting. Gate receipts contributed ₹3.85 crore, live streaming ₹3.69 crore, mobile phone permits ₹3.31 crore and private boxes ₹0.95 crore. Equine Hospital revenue added ₹6.94 crore. Despite these revenue streams, the racing operation remained deeply loss-making.

 

The Tote figures are particularly noteworthy. Totalizator betting may involve substantial turnover, but the Club's actual Tote commission was only ₹1.21 crore. Including fixed-odds betting, Tote-related income amounted to about ₹1.60 crore. By comparison, bookmakers' stall fees generated more than five times that amount.

 

The accounts do not provide activity-wise costs, so it would be inappropriate to describe individual revenue streams as profitable or otherwise. What the figures establish is that the overall cost of conducting racing is substantially higher than the revenue generated by the racing operation.

 

Sponsorship has become financially significant

 

Sponsors contributed ₹9.70 crore during the year, compared with ₹6.19 crore in the previous year. Gross stakes were ₹32.90 crore, but after sponsorship and sweepstakes, the net stakes expense was reduced to ₹16.29 crore.

 

Sponsorship is therefore making a substantial contribution to the economics of the racing programme. But its sustainability is a concern, particularly because a significant portion of the current sponsorship market is being driven by the competitive bidding of the Poonawalla brothers. There are no obvious major sponsors waiting in the wings to replace that support.

 

The problem is not difficult to understand. For a commercial brand, sponsorship has to deliver visibility and reach. Racing currently offers limited publicity and therefore limited value to advertisers seeking to promote their brands to a wider audience. The sport's shrinking media footprint has weakened one of the principal attractions for corporate sponsors.

 

Indian racing once had a wider international audience, with race signals sold abroad through a franchise arrangement. That arrangement ended after the completion of its five-year contract, and no new entity has since been found to take its place. The loss of that international exposure further reduces the commercial value of sponsorship.

 

This makes the present sponsorship income particularly important, but also potentially fragile. If sponsorship weakens, the burden of funding racing falls even more heavily on the Club's own revenues. The underlying problem remains that racing is not generating enough recurring income to comfortably finance the racing programme.

 

Non-racing activities are carrying the financial burden

 

The contrast with the Club's other activities is striking. While racing recorded a deficit of ₹23.84 crore, other Club activities generated ₹44.49 crore and a segment surplus of ₹6.56 crore.

 

The sources of this income are significant. Turf Club House activities generated ₹14.96 crore, including ₹11.58 crore from boarding, lodging and dining. Catering-related conducting fees contributed ₹9.04 crore, while lawn and helipad charges produced ₹5.36 crore.

 

There was also ₹10.10 crore of other income, including ₹4.56 crore in interest and ₹1.56 crore from mutual-fund redemptions.

 

The financial picture is consequently clear: income from activities outside racing is helping to subsidise the racing operation.

 

 

The Club attributes much of the deterioration this year to the loss of inter-venue betting days because other clubs were unable to conduct racing owing to Glanders and other problems. That explains part of the unusually large deficit, but it does not remove the longer-term issue of racing's underlying economics.

 

The figures also raise questions about costs and controls

 

Racing revenue declined from ₹38.96 crore to ₹33.41 crore, while racing expenses increased sharply from ₹47.52 crore to ₹57.25 crore.

 

Several expenditure heads deserve scrutiny. Repairs and maintenance cost ₹12.62 crore, legal and professional fees ₹7.20 crore, stores and provisions ₹7.71 crore, contract labour ₹3.94 crore and security ₹3.93 crore.

 

The auditors have also specifically noted that the software used for maintaining TOTE records does not have an audit-trail/edit-log facility. Three other systems likewise did not have database-level audit trails enabled.

 

These observations do not, by themselves, establish wrongdoing. They do, however, raise legitimate questions about expenditure efficiency, financial controls and the systems used to monitor one of the Club's important betting operations.

 

The Club House introduces a larger strategic question

 

RWITC is proceeding with its proposed new Club House in the Second Enclosure. The existing stand has been demolished, with piling and excavation underway. The accounts disclose ₹8.86 crore of outstanding capital commitments on the project.

 

From a commercial perspective, the expansion could make considerable sense. A modern Club House could attract new members, generate entrance-fee income and create a stronger stream of recurring non-racing revenue. There is, however, a longer-term institutional issue that deserves consideration.

 

If a substantial proportion of new members are attracted primarily by the Club House, hospitality and leisure facilities rather than horse racing, the composition of the membership could gradually change. Over time, the interests and priorities of the Club could move further towards its non-racing activities.

 

That creates a potential paradox. The Club House could strengthen RWITC financially and help subsidise racing, while at the same time gradually reducing the centrality of racing within the institution.

 

There is nothing inherently wrong with a Turf Club developing successful commercial and hospitality operations. Indeed, given the current numbers, RWITC may have little choice but to diversify its income. The important issue is whether diversification remains a means of strengthening racing or eventually becomes the Club's principal purpose.

 

The question RWITC must confront

 

The annual report therefore presents an issue considerably larger than the ₹23.84 crore racing deficit.

 

Is RWITC building a stronger financial foundation to sustain horse racing, or is it gradually building a successful club around a racing operation that can no longer pay for itself?

 

The answer will determine not merely how the Club manages its finances, but what kind of institution RWITC ultimately becomes.