Randox Grand National Festival worth more than £60 million for Liverpool City Region

The total economic impact of the 2022 Randox Grand National Festival was almost £60.4 million, according to research undertaken by Liverpool Business School at Liverpool John Moores University.

The figures are contained in a report released today by Aintree Racecourse which assesses the impacts of the three-day meet, which includes the world's greatest horse race, on the economy of the Liverpool City Region. 

Using survey responses, daily averages for spectators’ spending activity were calculated. The attendance figures for 2022 were then used to aggregate up the spending after excluding any local or casual spectators who are assumed not to influence the overall economic impacts of events. This enabled an estimation of the economic impact associated with each day of the festival as well as overall.

The key findings of the report were:

• The total economic impact (direct and indirect) of the 2022 Randox Grand National Festival is estimated at £60,389,712 (£44,564,080 direct economic impact, £17,825,632 indirect economic impact).

• The Randox Grand National Festival is a well-attended social event with nearly all attendees coming with friends or family. A small percentage (7.2%) come alone or with colleagues.

• The event has a loyal following with the majority attending out of habit (64.2%).

• While the largest proportion of active users engaging with the Randox Grand National Festival on social media are from the UK (74%), the festival is actively engaged with globally. The United States, Australia, and India all show some social media engagement to varying degrees.

The Liverpool Business School at LJMU team of Dr Steve Nolan, Dr Matej Christiaens, Dr Christopher Faulkner and Dr Matthew Hindmarsh,said: “We found that the influx of spectators leads directly to over 40 million pounds of spending. This is a massive boost to key local sectors, particularly hospitality and entertainment, which we would not see without the pull of the festival. Nearly 50% of the total economic effect is down to those who attend Grand National Day.

“It is clear that the Grand National remains a major player with the Liverpool City Region, UK sporting and global racing calendars.”

Dickon White, Regional Director - North West, The Jockey Club, added: “I would like to say a huge thanks to the team at Liverpool Business School at LJMU for producing this report.

“Of course, we already knew how massive an event the Randox Grand National is for the City of Liverpool and it very informative for us to see it quantified with detailed economic data. This will provide with a great resource to plan for the Randox Grand National Festival in the years ahead.”