Online horse racing ticket sales top W1.54tr in 9 months, surpassing all of last year

Online horse racing ticket sales at Korea Racing Authority are rising rapidly, and the share of members aged 30 and under has grown sharply alongside them.

According to data submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sun-gyo of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, online ticket sales totaled 731.3 billion won in 2024, the first full year of online wagering, before climbing to 1.37 trillion won last year. Through September this year, sales have already reached 1.54 trillion won — surpassing last year's full-year total by 171 billion won.

Online sales as a share of total ticket revenue have also expanded, rising from 11.2 percent in 2024 to 21.4 percent last year and reaching 32.2 percent as of September this year. Offline sales, meanwhile, fell from 6.49 trillion won in 2023 to 5.05 trillion won last year.

Members aged 60 and older account for 50.3 percent of online users, with those in their 50s making up another 31.6 percent, meaning middle-aged and older users dominate the platform. But the share of members aged 30 and under has climbed from 2.9 percent in 2024 to 5.6 percent last year and 7.9 percent as of September this year — roughly 2.7 times higher in about two years.

When online wagering was introduced, the government set the minimum purchase age at 21, required in-person identity verification, and capped purchases at 50,000 won per race to prevent minors from accessing the platform and to curb excessive gambling.

Yet Korea Racing Authority's own addiction prevention budget last year came to only 231.28 million won — about 0.004 percent of total ticket sales of 6.42 trillion won. Even including an addiction prevention and treatment levy of 4.27 billion won, the combined budget amounts to around 4.5 billion won, or just 0.07 percent of sales.

"As online wagering grows, the share of young users is rising fast," Kim said. "Rather than focusing solely on expanding ticket sales, the authority must analyze usage patterns and addiction risks among younger users and put in place protection measures tailored to different age groups and to both online and offline users."