I enjoyed some good feedback on my previous column on racing missing an opportunity to bring in new fans as major circuits fail to embrace fixed-odds wagering. Such an embrace would put horse racing side by side with other events on America’s fast-growing sports betting platforms.
One reader noted that the New York Racing Association has supported efforts to change state law to make this possible. We’ve reported on those efforts but it probably would have been worth a sentence in the column as a reminder. Hopefully, those efforts soon pay dividends.
Another reader noted that in talking about the relatively high takeout in racing, I should have noted that parlays on sports wagers do bettors no favors, as those takeout rates are quite high. Good point. When I wrote that, I was thinking about low takeout single-game wagers offered in sports wagering, but it is true that four-team parlays (and the like) on these mobile platforms are not particularly bettor friendly.
That got me to thinking about the various pari-mutuel wagering experts at racing’s many conferences over the years who have suggested horse racing lower its takeout on its most basic wagers, win, place, and show, to increase churn (money that is won by players and then bet back). While it is not completely apples to apples, on some level it seems sports betting has put this model in place.
It’s worth saying that if racing should move toward offering fixed-odds type wagering, I do not envision racing’s multi-leg or multi-horse pari-mutuel wagers (trifectas, superfectas, Pick 3s, Pick 4s, Pick 5s) moving to the sports betting platforms. Pari-mutuel wagering works well for those wagers.
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The attractive aspect of putting horse racing side by side with sports betting is the opportunity to bring desperately needed new players to the sport. The thought is that as those sports bettors give racing a try and become interested through simple win bets with the locked-in odds they already are familiar with from sports betting, they eventually will develop interest in racing and likely more interest in the more complicated multi-race and multi-horse wagers offered on the pari-mutuel side.
Marketing Success Story
America’s Best Racing’s development of a number of avenues to bring people to horse racing throughout North America recently saw some success in using that approach to promote a specific event.
It should be noted that ABR is a multimedia fan development and awareness-building program initiated by The Jockey Club and that BloodHorse is co-owned by majority owner TJC, through The Jockey Club Information Systems; as well as the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. BloodHorse runs a number of stories and videos produced by ABR and credited as such.
With those ties made clear, the numbers tell a successful story for ABR in its recent contracted promotion of the 2024 Far Hills Meeting, a one-day affair in New Jersey that features the $250,000 American Grand National Steeplechase (NSA-1). For this year’s Oct. 19 event, ABR reports that a Far Hills investment of about $6,000 generated $198,390 in revenue, primarily through ticket sales specifically linked to the campaign.
While promoting a steeplechase event marked a bit of new territory for ABR, TJC Media Ventures vice president Greg Charkoudian said its expertise in flat racing gave it a good start.
“As a steeplechase, this was a bit of new territory for us, but we have expertise on fan engagement and what people enjoy about a day at the races,” Charkoudian said.
With that in mind, the ABR website produced articles such as a feature on steeplechase legend McDynamo, an introduction for new fans attending the event (Know Before You Go), and an expert wagering guide for the race day.
Along with those stories, ABR created video content and video shorts that played well on its site and social media platforms. And in terms of reaching people directly, it dedicated an e-mail blast to its subscriber list, ran banner ads on its site that generated 661,070 impressions, and oversaw the distribution of promotional flyers at area restaurants.
As part of the fan experience, ABR brought in the popular Jockeycam VR setup to the event.
The approach helped bring the attention of many to the event—172,413 impressions and 2,309 ticket sales.
