Author's Note: This is more of an essay than the other articles in this site. I am looking to cover ways to enhance the fan experience of Racing, ways which might draw new people to racing, or hook those who might attend the occasional meeting. Most of these will involve the home experience, and relatively small, simple and cheap ideas for improvement.
How popular is Horse Racing in New Zealand? it is certainly reasonably large business, according to the New Zealand Racing Board racing contributes around 1.3% of New Zealand's GDP (based on a study in 2003), Waikato Stud sites a similar number which may be based on the same study. Turnover from racing on and off course was roughly $1.4 billion in 2010, of which only about 5.5% of that total was on course, through the first half of 2011 turnover is looking slightly increased with roughly 6% of that on course.
Without more in-depth knowledge of the make up of those numbers it is hard to determine the contribution of the three codes incorporated in that number, it is also hard to determine the contribution from big bettors verses smaller punters, however as that number is purely turnover one could assume larger players make a significant contribution to that $1.4 billion. So it is not really possible to tell the number of people frequently contributing to this total, and the overall popularity of racing (of course it is possible to enjoy and follow racing without making any contribution to turnover).
The one telling piece of information is that the majority of revenue is derived through off course channels which must include the local TAB, TAB machines in bars, and placing bets from home or anywhere over the phone or Internet. Two years ago popularity was sufficient to warrant another dedicated racing TV channel, of course this was also a way to offer more racing, but there must have been a demand for this.
Possibly the best way to ask a question of popularity is not to ask how popular is racing? but to ask, why is horse racing not more popular? Even if you remove the gambling aspect from the racing there is still a lot to offer, you get to watch two highly skilled athletes, man (or Woman as the case may be) trying to tame a sometimes uncooperative beast and get the best performance from it; there is fast pace, tight finishes, frequent underdog stories; it is highly accessible and a traditional Kiwi pass time; there are compelling characters from the broadcast booth through the trainers, owners, jockeys and you can even include the horses themselves; there is also a danger aspect which tends to draw some people to certain sports. Without the wagering side racing still offers a chance to prove your skill and pick winners, with the gambling comes a way to potentially increase the excitement by adding a risk and reward factor. It is not necessarily more expensive than following the All Blacks if you enjoy the competition for what it is.
When you watch racing on TV you typically see a scattering of people in attendance at the course. The only times you see more is the major race days. What is the difference between these days and a regular Saturday? generally the quality of racing is higher, the racing feels special and a day at the races feels like an event, the other difference revolves around promotion and the amount which goes into the bigger days. Ellerslie racecourse is great at hosting events and parties they have the advantage of a large population to draw from, a thriving social scene which likes that type of event, and leading racing to back it up. I am sure Ellerslie has a promotional budget for advertising things like Auckland Cup Week and Whips and Spurs, but they also have an excellent Twitter and Facebook presence, and the advantage of putting on great events which lead to spreading word of mouth. Is there a hook? how many people who attend these events and even have a bet at these events will go on to follow racing more closely? many wont even think of it until the next party.
Should the racing industry even be worried about attracting crowds and increasing on-course turnover? clearly the clubs have something at stake with on-course turnover, however as a whole other than the big race days is it better to attend a meeting than watch it at home? Flick on a Super 15 game some time, you will almost certainly notice a difference in the sizes of the crowds in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, they have bigger populations to draw from, but they also have larger stadiums to fill, this is New Zealand's national game, a New Zealand team has won the competition eleven out of sixteen years, and it doesn't cost much to get a ticket to most of these games. Maybe it is just more fun to watch a game at home or in a pub (an argument which can now be seen frequently), large screen TV's, high definition, replays, pause, rewind, change channels, surround sound, the ability to walk away if the game is not up to standard.
The TV is not the only place you can get up close to Rugby, online you can connect and communicate with your favourite player through Facebook or Twitter, there is an overload of information and analysis, rumour and banter can be exchanged on message boards. The fan experience beyond the stadium is excellent, you can be the biggest fan and not have to attend a single game, in fact with a laptop on your knee you can watch the game and communicate with other big fans on-line. If you want to go to a game you can pick and choose the bigger games with the better atmosphere and more at stake.
Racing has a great TV experience, two channels dedicated to racing from around the world. But whether you are going to the track or watching on TV it is still a full days commitment. The advent of MySky and other DVR helps this problem, the New Zealand Racing website has video of most races available, however the website seems to work infrequently, NZRacing has a decent YouTube channel, but it only features main races. Why not put all of the races on YouTube? which makes the maintenance of it their problem and then simply have links on the NZ Racing page next to the results, or put them in a way you can watch the race and then reveal the result.
The good thing about watching racing on TV is that there is constant racing, you can watch five or more race meetings at once if you choose, but it does leave you feeling a bit cold. It is constant racing with a couple of short interviews, most of the days previews are on the First Call which is before racing gets started for the day. It is always good to hear from trainers, jockeys, and owners after races, to see presentations, but also to hear more in-depth analysis of races after the event, it is understandable that money is generated through having more races to bet on, but it would be interesting to know how much more the personalities could resonate if they had a voice, it is clear people in New Zealand frequently bet with their hears rather than their heads, and patriotism takes over, why not give more access to the 'stars' of the racing industry and see if a sense of loyalty is generated. This doesn't need to interfere with the economics of broadcasting racing on a daily basis, but why not utilise YouTube for this purpose to showcase the personalities.
Small Step 1: Better utilisation of YouTube in conjunction with the television channels is a simple change which is reasonably inexpensive and would enhance the fan experience.
The TAB released a mobile friendly website earlier this year (m.tab.co.nz), it is a simple way to wager or look at odds on the go. Why do they not have an application for use on iPad/iPhone and Android devices? this seems like a simple next step (I say this as someone who works in the IT industry), it is a good way to integrate the web page with racing information and even include video or links to the YouTube channel to further integrate technology. Tablet PC's are ideal for scanning form (which can be done at present by downloading a .pdf file), and an app can offer links for more information or directly to place a bet. New Zealand Bloodstock has taken up the challenge and is using an iPad application for their latest catalogue it is a perfect example of the power of this type of technology, a buyer can have this in their hand for easy access to information or take it anywhere for an easy ability to look up information. A tablet would be an ideal tool to have either at home or at the track for placing bets and looking up information. The problem is of course if you are at the track placing bets using technology then the course may get cut out of the equation, it is hard to believe that courses don't offer free Wi-Fi, but understandable they have the concern that they will lose money from someone who has already taken the time to be on course but is then betting remotely. This is a deeper problem, the simple solution is to provide Wi-Fi and treat all bets coming through that IP address as 'on-course', the clubs can still get their share, and the fan gets an improved experience.
Why not offer free Wi-Fi in TAB outlets and more importantly pubs? not only would access to an application give more knowledge to people in these outlets, but it would allow for an ease of betting, and more trackable information for the TAB, particularly in a pub environment where they have automatic machines which must be connected to the TAB network anyway, the additional cost of building in wireless routers would be minimal compared to potential benefits. The other benefit would be advertising, most wireless signals send out the name of the network 'connect to x' which can pop up automatically on your phone or device, when you pull out your phone in a pub or walking down the street you could see that and at the very least it would raise awareness of the ability to get onto the TAB site/application.Free Wi-Fi access could also be locked to only the TAB website or application to avoid additional costs.
Small Step 2: Mobile Application
Small Step 3: Free on course Wi-Fi
Small Step 4: Free Wi-Fi in TAB outlets and Bars with TAB facilities.
The next small step is to increase interaction. Yes, the TAB has Facebook and Twitter pages, as do other prominent people and organisations in the racing industry, such as Pencarrow Stud and New Zealand Thoroughbred racing, but those sites are generally good for information and suitable for people with interest in the activities of those organisations. Where interaction could be better is with the stars of the industry, the jockeys, trainers, and television personalities. It is great that Hayden Tinsley is on twitter he also has a cool modern website, and Jason Tan is using this technology more frequently, but it needs to go beyond this. Some jockeys have web sites, Sam Spratt has a pretty good one which is kept up to date, but few others do, a quick Google search of the top 15 Jockey's on the current premiership yields very few websites, Google shows that several have Facebook pages, but I assume those are personal pages rather than 'fan' pages (I don't know, I am not going to risk invading their privacy to find out for sure), which makes sense because they are people in addition to athletes. It is can understandable that jockey's are effectively self employed, so luxuries like websites would probably come at a personal cost, and take up their own time to maintain etc.but, why doesn't NZ Racing set up Fan sites to promote some of the sports bigger stars, again there is a potential cost, but when people Google James McDonald, they would find specific information about a real success story rather than a scattering of references in articles and other sources.
Obviously jockeys and trainers are their own people, they have a job to focus on like anyone else, and may not want to invest time in this type of activity, clearly NZ Racing cant force them (nor would I suggest they try) to have Twitter accounts etc. to communicate with the public, also been in the public eye will not just bring out fans but potentially open them up to negative comments. However it would be cool to see more of them on Twitter, writing blogs occasionally, more interviews or online chats with the public. A great thing about been a sports fan in this era is the ability to communicate directly with your favourite stars, whether they be sports stars or movie stars, it is a chance to hear their voice unfiltered and a way for them to promote themselves.
Small Step 5: Offer to set up personal websites and fan pages for jockeys (most often trainers have websites because it is in their interest to be accessible to potential owners, although Googling trainers still leads to mixed results, it is surprising more stables don't have twitter accounts to promote successes to potential owners, much like Pencarrow Stud does), encourage people in the industry to get involved with Twitter.
The TAB currently has a good website, it is functional, easy to use and fits the purpose well. It probably doesn't make sense to make wholesale changes other than the occasional face lift to stay fresh, which they already do well. Many of the proposed changes need to be linked to be effective, ie. if you are going to have blogs, links to Jockey websites and twitter feeds, links to Youtube for interviews and race coverage, other ideas which are to come, and a smart phone/tablet application, obviously this would take up significant space on the existing website. One option is to add a tab with all of this stuff neatly organised, or secondly to create a separate website which either opens in a separate window when the tab is clicked, or is its own entity, for example there is currently not a Trackside website, it would be the perfect way to link the TV channels to the TAB website, and the new interactive fan experience which could be offered. There are other ways interacting can be included, such as holding frequent online chats with people in racing or analysts, and bio's of jockeys and trainers, of which there are some on the NZ Racing website, but it could be increased.
Small Step 6: TAB Website improvement to link interactivity with racing on TV and any improved fan experience.
Forums are a great way for fans to interact with other fans. There are two prominent forums in New Zealand Race Cafe and Race Chat. These both offer interesting insight and discussions, particularly in relation to insider-y aspects of Racing. There are a couple of problems, they are in general poorly moderated, which makes sense because they are privately run and moderation takes time, threads get derailed by personal attacks, off topic comments, and multiple threads about the same topic, lack of contributors. The insider environment also makes it difficult for a fan to contribute, a common rebuttal is simply stating your resume and claiming the other person doesn't know what they are talking about, which creates a hostile and intimidating environment. Yes, some topics around training, ownership, or NZTR's leadership and policies probably should be left to people in the know, however they do make interesting reading for people out of the know. The ideal forum, would have specific areas to discuss previews for up coming races or race meetings (one thread per race meeting and each larger race), a race day forum for people to discuss what they are watching, their impressions of up coming races and thoughts on results, Q&A forums for people who have knowledge to share with interested fans, Competitions (which admittedly Race Cafe does really well), as well as other general forums to discuss other things happening in racing, much like they currently have. By pulling this under the TAB (or alternate 'Fan' interaction website), a moderator could be employed (or better yet volunteers can be appointed to enforce forum rules, which would be reviewed to make sure Mod's are on the same page and not abusing power), it would also attract more people to contribute because it would be easier to find, sanctioned by NZ Racing, well moderated, and open for fans to make a contribution which would lead to more people contributing and discussing racing.
Small Step 7: Forums, an inviting environment for fans to hold discussions about the happenings in racing, in a well moderated environment.
Fantasy sports are huge business, estimates have placed the value at $3-4 Billion in the US (the real home of this type of thing). In this part of the worlds they exist in the form of tipping competitions, and pick a team style competitions. Even horse racing fantasy sports are not new. There are definite improvements which could be made, if these are brought under the TAB banner it would be inviting, can easily link to the forum, and other interaction and increase fan involvement. I have ideas of how this could work well, but this is already long winded enough, so I will save those for another post.
Small Step 8: Fantasy Sports
Can any of this make a difference? Is there a flow on from increasing the fan experience, to increasing the number of fans, to increasing turnover, to increasing stakes, to increasing ownership, to increasing product quality, to increasing fans?
Who knows, would it benefit current customers and fans? yes, some of these suggestions would benefit more fans than others would.
Is there a cost involved? yes, but many of these ideas are relatively simple and cheap (YouTube usage), some directly impact turnover (like Wi-Fi in pubs for example), some are more costly but have longer term benefits, many involve a start up cost and smaller maintenance expenditure (building websites, and applications). Some may only serve to raise the profile of people in the industry like trainers and jockeys which may directly benefit them, but may take time to flow through to increased turnover (although you can argue that there is a flow on effect).
The overall theme of this includes three aspects, firstly the use of technology which exists and is on offer to use, secondly the promotion of personalities, and thirdly the integration between technology, information channels, personalities and the fan experience.
None of this is intended to be a criticism of the way the TAB or New Zealand Racing operates. I am not privy to the politics or management of New Zealand Racing, so I don't know what it takes to get things done. Nor do I feel like I currently have a bad fan experience, but good is a relative term and things can always be improved. What I do know is what it is like to be a fan, I enjoy all sports and am passionate about Racing in New Zealand, I can see that the fan experience of racing relative to other sports can be improved, particularly relative to sports leagues in other parts of the world, and it would be great to follow racing at home as well as I can sports leagues which exist overseas.
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