CREATING A SOCIAL WAGERING ENVIRONMENT

Racing used to be a game of real social relevance with huge crowds attending on a regular basis, the media giving it ample coverage and a resultant glamour tag that did wonders for the popularity of the sport. The course was the place to be with punting widely supported and many attendees having dreams of one day owning their own horse.

We know that this description of racing now belongs in the history books, the exception being big feature race days and a few racing festivals annually. Times have changed and the deregulation of other forms of gambling has created new challenges for racing operators globally. Also from within its own ranks racing are facing numerous new challenges with tote operators, bookmakers, online operators and betting exchanges all competing for a slice of a cake that has not had icing and cherries for some time.

To their credit, betting operators have actually managed to cope quite well given all of these headwinds, by diversification of their businesses, highly successful utilisation of the churn based model and by instituting essential cost cutting exercises. The pressure is growing however and since most practical options have been exhausted the future will be characterised by reduced profit margins as everyone competes for increased market share.

It is hard to see racing as we know it now surviving as far more lucrative options could see racing operators switching their attentions away from the game that we love and are passionate about. The greatest risk at present is that many betting operators have lost their belief in the sport and in the ability of racing, and tote betting in particular, to contribute meaningfully to the bottom line of their businesses.

This is a situation that needs to be remedied and Scoreline Wagering Enterprises sees it as our main objective to restore a belief in racing and pool betting through an all-out entertainment driven wagering approach.

I have talked before about the need to make our sport more appealing to a much broader and significantly changed market which could be done far easier than thought and at no great cost to individual operators. Two previous blog articles mention elements that I deem absolutely vital to growing racing in a modern society. The first is the creation of pure entertainment driven wagering products and the second is the crucial initial involvement period which will determine a lost opportunity or ensure committed long term and regular support.

The third essential element which I would like to briefly touch on is the need to give racing a much needed social character as this is one area that the youth of today still relates to as can be seen by the popularity of social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Racehorse ownership has already benefitted from syndication efforts and a similar strategy will benefit the punting side of the business as well. Racing needs to be promoted as a group activity which would create many new opportunities amongst both younger and older segments of society. Group involvement will promote regular participation, make the learning process a lot more fun, improve affordability and lead to significant word of mouth benefits. Products that support group involvement, especially those that offer life changing prize money and long term participation through competition and league offerings will have a high probability of success.

By making group involvement possible and preferable and marketing the product along these lines a major social opportunity will be created that will offer racing the best chance of sustainable growth in future. Social relevance will ensure increased media exposure as numerical and social significance is a strong journalistic and advertising motivator. Over time this combination will change racing from socially relevant to socially desirable and return our sport to the leading role that it held for many decades.

Defining Critical Growth Factors in Racing

With racing having shown a regrettable inability to attract meaningful numbers of committed and regular players to the game I feel that we need to have a closer look at how critical interest in racing can be defined from a vital growth perspective.

Two elements dominate my thinking in terms of this very vital aspect around racing:

Generating an Initial Interest

Although racing has been hugely successful at attracting significant crowds to big feature race days and an equivalent exponential increase in all pools on these occasions, we have to ask what happens to all these new players after the event, as they clearly have no further involvement with pools instantly returning back to normal afterwards.

I believe that racing can be made much more attractive in addition to big race days by introducing products that will generate large and fast growing pools. The critical balance is finding the most effective ratio between generating carry-overs and payouts.

The Key to Growth: Sustaining Interest after an Initial Involvement

The most critical time, and this is the area that betting operators need to concentrate on, is the often neglected period between initial involvement until such time as the player has reached a level of proficiency that will ensure committed participation.

This period will vary from player to player but generally speaking it will be somewhere between 3 and 12 months and this is where continued involvement will be secured or lost.

Current products are suitable in terms of experienced players needs but they offer virtually no acquisition support as can be seen from the low conversion rate that racing is able to achieve.

New products, developed specifically for their entertainment value and affordability, will provide betting operators with the elusive tools to bridge this key transition period.

OUR PRODUCTS, OF WHICH SCORELINE IS THE FIRST, HAVE BEEN SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO PROVIDE THIS VALUABLE SUPPORT TO MARKETING EFFORTS.