Racing it's a rush

Bob Brogan wrote: LSU , I love watching racing at home ( obv ) but get bored to tears when I'm on track , I think the long race days (10 +)should be split into two day festivals like in the UK

bob for how long have the uk had these racing festivals for?would it work in south Africa?i definitely agree 12 races is far to long for me ..lsu I cannot understand why the racing operators haven't brought you on board as a consultant its mind boggling considering the personal they have in their ranks to promote the sport

Thanks for the vote of confidence P

The truth is that as far as they are concerned there is only one column that counts and that is the expense column and keeping it down or cutting back further with regards to racing.

The notion of spending money to generate future ticks and flows in the income column is not easily entertained no matter how much sense it makes not only for racing but overall company performance.

Action speaks louder than words which is why no new action around racing has its very own story to tell.

LSU wrote: Time for our sport to forget about the crowd and to concentrate on drawing customers. Every big racing event is a sell out nearly every year but the crowd is yet to be convinced about becoming customers.
Racing is without a doubt the worst spectator sport in the world with 1 to 2 minutes of action followed by 35 to 50 minutes of inactivity for the uninitiated and not a whole lot more for experienced players. Even good entertainment in between will never make racing a spectator delight to rival mainstream sport.
Individual races have a great deal of spectator value though if you are a punter or an owner with a runner.
Racing will only succeed in drawing new customers to the game if it can be promoted as a year round activity and not only an occasional or annual attraction.
Racing is loved by loyal supporters who participate which is why we need to actively sell participation and not attendance or the odd bit of exposure.

I disagree totally - The best way to build a customer base is to get new faces on-course. Get those people onto a database and then sent texts/emails twice a month when you have suitable product on offer. If you have taught them to bet - Simple WIN and PLACE then you have a chance. Even in its heyday I remember in 1986 there was only one other person that had any interest in punting in my University first-year course but most had a flutter on the July. There are only a certain amount of people that enjoy gambling but the vast amount enjoy a party. If that party PAYS for itself and 10% become occasional racegoers then you will be fine. If however you have parties aimed at people that will NEVER punt then you are wasting money and time - rather open a restaurant or night club than try to turn the course into one.

Mr H

I always respect your views greatly but forgive me if i tell you that it is this type of thinking which is one of the main causes in holding racing back.

Simple bets have been around forever and so has crowds at racing, it isn't effective and won't be unless you have a few hundred people on course teaching people about betting at every event.

I agree with Bob that watching on tv makes more sense as even mainstream sport are seeing fewer people at the average live event. It should not matter though as long as we can get people to participate.

Given the amount of time a race takes makes it a perfect product to promote as a secondary activity in between everyone's favourite sports. You can cross to the event and results on tv or your mobile without having to sacrifice your main interest.

Once the bug bites, more time might well be spent on racing but even as a secondary pursuit the industry can obtain a huge source of additional funding.

The marketing approach is completely flawed and the operator will keep on defending the position you advocate which will entrench racings title as a dying sport.

We need to change with the times and present racing as a more entertaining and rewarding pastime or accept where we are heading.

Everyone here makes good+valid points. Get new faces, educate them or take them through the learning curve (those that want to), engage and convert. Give attention to the existing ones, engage, loyalty system. The ones that do not want to bet, give them attention too - make it attractive to associate with racing. There is a wide market on different levels for the taking. Use different media to deliver this, and different hands-on activities (marketing mix 101).

One of the easiest and cheapest is social media - have you been watching the tweets from racing its a rush lately - they're getting better! Participate, reply, re-tweet, tweet, engage! Everyone can participate and help this along. The more people engage, the better the spread.

According to a recent market research study, the majority of SAF population do not know that racing even exists, let alone, when, how and where.

forgot to add - but the SAF population do have access to social media....figure.

I have to agree with most of the comments above. Being a "newbie" myself, I was told to go to "It's a Rush website" and I will have a whole new outlook... How shocked was I at what I found... most points have already been highlighted, so I am not going to repeat, but I want to punt and gamble and find interest in the game as I win (or just miss out), but THAT is what gives you excitement... THAT is what makes me come back for more! Not the weak posts and stories that they are currently running with... Give me something that will give me a better chance of winning!!!!!

These guys need to find something totally different that will improve this campaign... if they continue on this path, it will just be another white elephant which ultimately cost millions...

P.S. I understand it's new, but even the SAracing App is ridiculous. I followed this last week when they gave tips for Cape Town.... PA cost over R4000 and they did not even hit it! And it's not as if the payouts were anything exceptional! Some races they tipped up to 8 horses in a 12 runner race! Really? Come on guys, you can do better than this!

pirates wrote:

Bob Brogan wrote: LSU , I love watching racing at home ( obv ) but get bored to tears when I'm on track , I think the long race days (10 +)should be split into two day festivals like in the UK

bob for how long have the uk had these racing festivals for?would it work in south Africa?i definitely agree 12 races is far to long for me ..lsu I cannot understand why the racing operators haven't brought you on board as a consultant its mind boggling considering the personal they have in their ranks to promote the sport

i`m in my 40`s and there has always been festivals..

But not all used to be marketed that way, now its full tilt for the "two day July Cup"

snel wrote: I have to agree with most of the comments above. Being a "newbie" myself, I was told to go to "It's a Rush website" and I will have a whole new outlook... How shocked was I at what I found... most points have already been highlighted, so I am not going to repeat, but I want to punt and gamble and find interest in the game as I win (or just miss out), but THAT is what gives you excitement... THAT is what makes me come back for more! Not the weak posts and stories that they are currently running with... Give me something that will give me a better chance of winning!!!!!

These guys need to find something totally different that will improve this campaign... if they continue on this path, it will just be another white elephant which ultimately cost millions...

P.S. I understand it's new, but even the SAracing App is ridiculous. I followed this last week when they gave tips for Cape Town.... PA cost over R4000 and they did not even hit it! And it's not as if the payouts were anything exceptional! Some races they tipped up to 8 horses in a 12 runner race! Really? Come on guys, you can do better than this!

Thank you snel.............the most significant post on this subject yet!
So much energy has been spent trying to second guess what would make racing ,and more importantly ,betting on racing,attractive to a newbie.
We have now heard it from a newbie ......................(except of course that so many people in the industry believe that their job makes them experts and that outsiders are clueless,so we are likely to hear that the newbie is WRONG about what he/she wants)

(It appears that snel's feelings confirm that it more likely for new punters to go racing than it is for occasional racegoers to become punters)

Dear Snel,

Thank you very much for your comments and we respect your sentiments.
The tips you were referring to were the selections of one of our loyal followers who has in the past been very successful.
We are a platform that encourages user participation and are more than willing to share anyone’s selections, videos, stories, pictures etc.
As a team we are continuously working on developing new concepts and content, and certainly welcome all feedback/ideas.
Keep in touch.

Kind regards,

SA Racing App

Dear Snel, why do you rely on tips? Can you not work it out for yourself?

There is endeavour to teach a low level of handicapping to the general public (which RIR is trying to adopt and deliver) -so that the public, and new punters alike, understand the mind game and can work out perms which include loss mitigation, for themselves. They are trying to raise the level of awareness and understanding about racing.

Without taking away from the tipsters, racing is not a gamble - it is an informed decision and opinion, as you know. If people are more confident in what they are spending their money on, they will spend. Also, the RIR website is meant as a one-stop hub for beginners, social visitors, and general interested parties - they are not in the business of tipping. If you are a hard-core punter or only interested in punting, there are other ports such as FormGrids, ARO, etc etc to help feed your knowledge. Follow tipsters at your own expense as they too may or may not have a good understanding of handicapping and also their own opinion of how they read a horse's ability.

Please learn to understand handicapping, for your own good - otherwise you will just be continuously saying 'the tips are useless'.

Don wrote: Dear Snel, why do you rely on tips? Can you not work it out for yourself?

There is endeavour to teach a low level of handicapping to the general public (which RIR is trying to adopt and deliver) -so that the public, and new punters alike, understand the mind game and can work out perms which include loss mitigation, for themselves. They are trying to raise the level of awareness and understanding about racing.

Without taking away from the tipsters, racing is not a gamble - it is an informed decision and opinion, as you know. If people are more confident in what they are spending their money on, they will spend. Also, the RIR website is meant as a one-stop hub for beginners, social visitors, and general interested parties - they are not in the business of tipping. If you are a hard-core punter or only interested in punting, there are other ports such as FormGrids, ARO, etc etc to help feed your knowledge. Follow tipsters at your own expense as they too may or may not have a good understanding of handicapping and also their own opinion of how they read a horse's ability.

Please learn to understand handicapping, for your own good - otherwise you will just be continuously saying 'the tips are useless'.

Good points in the main - but if they are not 'in the business of tipping', why put tips on the site?

Sorry got confused between the SaRacingApp and RIR :blush: