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STRATEGIC GOALS
Racing for Change has unveiled its strategic goals and embarked on the next phase of the project aimed at widening the appeal of horseracing, a phase that will include industry-wide consultation on the development of racing's premium product.
The Racing for Change board has prioritised what it believes to be the key recommendations and ideas of the project groups assembled in May. These will now be brought to life through a series of actions running in parallel, including industry consultation, executive recruitment and additional consumer research.
The Racing for Change board has set four key strategies:
- Define and launch a strategy that develops distinct premium branded racing events, such as clearly defined seasons, championships and finales
- Develop a proactive relationship with the betting industry to maximise the delivery of the racing product - to betting shops and online - and make it more accessible to a wider market.
- Introduce marketing and communications expertise to develop and launch a tightly co-ordinated marketing and PR strategy for racing that creates mass market appeal, which moves racing beyond its narrow confines to a broader sports and consumer media
- Establish a template and assessment criteria for the raceday customer experience - recognising the need for racing to develop its consumer offering if it wants to retain new consumers attracted to the sport
Development of the proposals recommended by the premier project group to the Racing For Change board will start immediately and will be the subject of a three-month consultation programme across the industry scheduled to begin this month.
The aim is to implement initiatives that will deliver a structure showcasing the sport's quality events, supported by proactive relationships with the betting industry and a co-ordinated marketing and communications strategy for British racing.
Chris McFadden, chairman of REL and the Racing For Change board, said: "Through prior consultation with racing's stake-holdersone area of consensus is that the current decline in racing's share of the betting market, its media-rights values, racecourse attendance and racehorse ownership will not correct itself.
"The Racing For Change board is made up of those parts of the industry who can actually deliver change and we are committed to developing and implementing measures to broaden the appeal of racing, reach a wider consumer audience and maximise participation in the sport.
"It is important to recognise that the proposals recommended for consultation are just that - concepts and ideas that we believe move us closer to achieving our objectives. None of the recommendations represents definitive plans and nothing is set in stone.
"The consultation process will seek to include all parts of the racing and betting industry in the UKand even further afield, as we may need to have discussions with our friends overseas in relation to the European Pattern. The feedback from these consultations, together with additional consumer research, will be considered by the Racing For Change board later in the year.
"One of the challenges for all involved in this process is to accept that not all of the recommended concepts and ideas will find favour. Some will feel the proposals go too far, while others will believe they have not gone far enough. The objective of this next phase, based on the feedback we get from the industry and the consumer research, is to further develop our thinking so that we have the best strategy in place to achieve our objectives."
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