Shrinking Attendances

Quite a lot has been written lately about declining attendances at Super Rugby matches.

The parallels between rugby & racing seem blindingly obvious to me :

In both cases the 'operators' are feeding us a surplus of sub-standard fare at normal, premium prices.

A Supersport correspondent commented that this coming weekend sees 8 matches scheduled. Only two are shaping up as contests which are likely to provide 'matches' in the true sense of the term. Both attendance at & viewershp of the other 6 games games is likely to be sparse.

Racing still seems convinced that 'any old rubbish racing' will do. I disagree.

Part of the answer is hiding in plain sight. You only have to look at the crowds that turn up for racing at Lingfield, Southwell, Kempton & Wolverhampton to deduce that UK racegoers also regard racing staged regularly (endlessly?) on these surfaces as 'betting fodder' and nothing more.

Yet small, obscure UK racecourses which only stage a handful of meetings each season generally attract excellent attendances.

I just need to see venues advertised such as the Durban Polytrack, Durbanville, Scottsville and Kimberley to reach for the 'off' button & barf bag.

I often wonder why the operators don't spend a lot more time & effort promoting the really big meetings (no matter where they are) & take a 'bye' on the local dross on those days.

For example - On the days on which the truly great festivals are staged ( eg Cheltenham, Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood, Breeders Cup, Met, Durban July, Queens Plate etc., why not can all other local racing and focus exclusively on those meetings ?

In my opinion these meetings could produce far greater turnovers if the punters were provided with solid, detailed previews & guidance in the days leading up to these events. It could be a win/win as local stables get a break & the operator has lesser 'staging costs' to fund.

And how about entering into a licensing arrangement with Timeform so that their form guides are available to local punters?

It also re-introduces a sense of ANTICIPATION - something which has entirely disappeared from racing in recent years.

I would guess that at present we are now simply seeing the same turnovers spread more thinly over more meetings.

Recent Saftote stats suggest that the local 'sponge' has been squeezed dangerously dry. Many racegoers must now surely be getting the sense that their punting careers died on a miserable night on a synthetic surface far from home backing diabolically bad horses.

As always Garrick excellent observations

If we consider tellytrack i am not sure they want to be an entertaining channel focusing on the spectacular racing world wide, with established form lines and great interviews as a build up but rather a 24/7 gambling showing Ngong, virtual racing, poly etc

I am sure we are heading towards the latter and the purists will probably just have to accept .

Thank you Garrick, yes, it's not so much about entertainment as it is about understanding racing. If you understand racing, you are likely to engage. But it is racing's responsibility to make their product understood, in as many ways and on all levels, from beginner to experienced.
This, in addition to providing a good experience on the day, in terms of hospitality.

Don wrote: Thank you Garrick, yes, it's not so much about entertainment as it is about understanding racing. If you understand racing, you are likely to engage. But it is racing's responsibility to make their product understood, in as many ways and on all levels, from beginner to experienced.
This, in addition to providing a good experience on the day, in terms of hospitality.

I'm no so sure that I agree with this statement. Understanding racing helps there's no doubt about that. I feel the racing experience plays a far larger role. Lets picture the scene, Mr and Mrs Smith a 20/30 something couple decide to spend a day at the races for some fun. They have absolutely no contacts in racing and decide on the spur of the moment to go to Turffontein/Greyville/Kenilworth on an ordinary Saturday morning. What do you think that their impressions of the facilities will be? What will their impressions of the eating options for day trippers? Do you think that they will feel welcome in the racing fraternity and leave the track having made a few mates and hopefully had some fun?

I think not.

Ok OTA

The point i was making is that by watching racing on TV its unlikely you are going to get the urge to rush out and watch it live?

Maybe SPUR a bad example after yesterdays embarrassment

Getting my posts mixed up lol

OTA precisely the point! it has to be both. Both understanding, engagement, and a good experience. Why can't it be both rather than one or the other???

I have a feeling that the many changes in racing in SA over the years which in hindsight probably had to be done one way or another will from this year on start to affect the "old" infrastructure and maybe create a new one where there are far fewer breeders, far fewer owners, heavy increases on training fees and lower prices for horses on auction that are genuinely there to be sold. Whether or not this will affect the pools or attendances Im not sure, however my personal feeling as regards attendance at the racecourse is immaterial as I have said for many years, attendance is only relevant for the BIG race days July, Met , Summercup, as it has been for the last 40 years as these are Horse Racing Events as is the NZ/Bok games in SA. This has not changed, and the monies to try get people to attend smaller race meetings via advertising etc is really not worth it.

oscar wrote: I have a feeling that the many changes in racing in SA over the years which in hindsight probably had to be done one way or another will from this year on start to affect the "old" infrastructure and maybe create a new one where there are far fewer breeders, far fewer owners, heavy increases on training fees and lower prices for horses on auction that are genuinely there to be sold. Whether or not this will affect the pools or attendances Im not sure, however my personal feeling as regards attendance at the racecourse is immaterial as I have said for many years, attendance is only relevant for the BIG race days July, Met , Summercup, as it has been for the last 40 years as these are Horse Racing Events as is the NZ/Bok games in SA. This has not changed, and the monies to try get people to attend smaller race meetings via advertising etc is really not worth it.

It is estimated that in 4 or so years 728 million people on the African continent will have smart phones - The operators should forget all marketing of Racing as a lifestyle for those with excess leisure spend and concentrate on the digital platform . They should be trying to move as much betting online even for small punters... as Data costs drops and more people become "Smart-wise" they will be left behind if they carry on trying to fill courses on dull days - The ability to place your own bet online without talking to a call center or tote teller saves costs - Racing Its A rush should be concentrating on Racing In Your Pocket rather than Secret Gardens etc... The logical thing to do would be a Tote in your Pocket - watch all races , replays, form etc all on your phone . Racing has a problem as a spectator's sport as there are relatively long delays between races.. I race almost exclusively from home now and because I have worked out my bets before I am able to watch racing on my phone while i work on my Pc or watch TV or any other task I need to do - In this way I am not bored to death waiting for horses to parade etc...Recently GC started some promotion that only catered to in-store customers 300k give away? What were they thinking? The real money in racing is on the net, not totes - why not have proper promotions that aim to migrate punters from tabs to online like every other business is doing? Why not rather give R1000 away per day to new customers that open up a telebet account for 300 days? Imagine the amount of new online players you create ? And you already have their digital address for continuous marketing which can then be used to promote big days where you want their on course attendance (so easy to add free wifi on-course which helps with stupidly long tote lines and tickets that need to be filled in)

Too many perceptions in racing that need to be ironed out imo

1: Racing is elitist
2: Racing is crooked
3: Racing is cruel

Bob Brogan wrote: Too many perceptions in racing that need to be ironed out imo

1: Racing is elitist - true but I have never taken anybody Racing that metioned this to me - And I am talking about taking people to the public areas not to boxes etc ...BUT in totes etc every second long-term punter believes this.
2: Racing is crooked - again never heard this from a first-time punter BUT hear it every time I'm in a tote
3: Racing is cruel

- Never heard this in a tote in my life(except in the early days when jumping was shown in totes - Also never sat down with a woman that did not find the Grand National cruel ) but often heard this from my guests especially if they were ladies.

why would anyone go racing?
the tracks with maybe exception of Kenilworth are all in crap areas.
Most are run down or un kept.
Customer service in non existent for most customers who go to course.
i dont think SA can sustain 7 day a week racing for much longer.
Betting turnover will continue to plunge.
Kimberley/vaal and Durbanville must all be sales victims in the near future