The owner of Chester and Bangor-on-Dee racecourses has warned the sites could be "mothballed" if crowds can't return.
Horse racing - like other sports - has been badly impacted by the pandemic.
While racing has returned the Covid-19 restrictions limit crowds and a bid to increase the numbers attending with pilot events has been hit by the recent spike in cases.
Chester Race Company chief executive Richard Thomas warned this could have serious consequences.
The company owns both Chester Racecourse and Bangor-on-Dee in North Wales. It also has an operating agreement for Musselburgh Racecourse in Scotland.
, Mr Thomas said: "If we were told we weren't having a crowd next year, we wouldn't be racing behind closed doors at Chester because we couldn't afford to do it.
“Any money we make from racing behind closed doors, we put back into prize-money, but we can't do that next year, and you wouldn't see Chester at all. We'd have to mothball the whole business, which is really scary.
“Be absolutely sure, if crowds don't come back there are going to be a huge number of sporting organisations that won't be here next year.
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That will include racecourses and football clubs, because none of us can survive without crowds.
"Eighty per cent of our income comes from crowds and the associated spend that comes with them. We employ 150 people, but the latest ruling means we don't have any Christmas parties, which is £100,000 of profit gone straight away.”