ABSTRACT
The 1880s were years of growth in athletics as a mass spectator sport. Betting was an influential feature in this development. As such, athletics meetings held the twin attraction of excitement and the potential bonus of a few extra pence or shillings in winnings. In this respect betting transformed the sport, for the gate-paying observer, from a passive to an active event. Competitive running had begun as an event organised by aristocratic employers of footmen who had a reputation for speed or endurance, with money being wagered on the outcome. Increasingly during the mid-nineteenth century running fixtures - staged by entrepreneur promoters for profit - drew paying crowds as large as 15,000, many of whom gambled on each race. The age of sport as a mass spectator phenomenon was emerging.
