Bay of Plenty Times racing coverage... WHAT A JOKE!

[Tommo Reid 0]

hahahaha.

Just reading the racing section of the local rag tonight (I rarely purchase but tonight I did) and there is an article in there about some of the runners racing this afternoon in Rotorua and who to look out for... Fairfield Flame etc. WHAT THE... Perhaps that article would have been better suited to Tuesdays edition!!

...and don't they recieve some sort of koha from the racing industry too!! Pretty sad considering

[Hunterville 0]

Racing journalism in this country is dead and has been for ages. Guess it's pretty embarrassing to have it all on the wrong day though

[THE TORCH 672]

Racing journalism in this country is dead and has been for ages. Guess it's pretty embarrassing to have it all on the wrong day though

Yip only 3 scribes worth reading: Tim Barton, Tony Bird, and Dave McCarthy (when he all too infrequently is asked for input). Sad, very sad.

[Nerula 1,403]

I have been banging on in the past about the idea that NZR should run a charm offensive with the media so that they pull their socks up. Its pretty fundamental.

Ah well cancel your rag get the news online or the telly and buy the Informant

[Hunterville 0]

We live in hope don't we, but it seems all the NZRB care about is wall to wall racing and grabbing every cent from the gambling addicts. Perhaps if they invested some money in other area's such as marketing the sport and providing decent coverage through newspapers and via the internet the racing industry might be going a bit better. This is the 21st century people, the general public has other entertainment options.

Horse racing is a great sport, but we are at a cross roads. Time to buck up the ideas and decide the direction racing should go in. At the moment the future is not all that rosy.

How about a racing ambassador? Some young well known attractive lass to sell the sport? I'm thinking billboards, tv adverts... if we can pay our head honcho 900k then surely we have the $ to make this sort of investment that is much more likely to bring results.

[fermoy 226]

We live in hope don't we, but it seems all the NZRB care about is wall to wall racing and grabbing every cent from the gambling addicts. Perhaps if they invested some money in other area's such as marketing the sport and providing decent coverage through newspapers and via the internet the racing industry might be going a bit better. This is the 21st century people, the general public has other entertainment options.

Horse racing is a great sport, but we are at a cross roads. Time to buck up the ideas and decide the direction racing should go in. At the moment the future is not all that rosy.

How about a racing ambassador? Some young well known attractive lass to sell the sport? I'm thinking billboards, tv adverts... if we can pay our head honcho 900k then surely we have the $ to make this sort of investment that is much more likely to bring results.

yea.good idea.how about that sheila that beat all the guys in the hunterville huntaway shepherds shemozzle??she would seem to have the neccessary get up and go to do the job right!!haha

[Sir Dane 0]

The NZRB should take a roadshow to all the little newspapers like some businesses do to promote racing. with technology the way it is it wouldn't be hard for someone to write a daily news report for all the papers to print, hence gaining readers who then might go to the races. just a thought.

[Hunterville 0]

How about a competiton...in this recession they will all be after the prize. Like the 'best job in the world' promotion over in Aus earlier this year, it could be the role of 'NZ Racing Ambassador', a $70,000 salary and you travel around the country attending all the big racemeetings with outfits provided as well as being the poster person. You don't have to know anything about racing, just good to look out and confident.. do media interviews promoting the races, give out free entry passes at the local mall... now wouldn't the ladies love that, and the comp would hopefully get a fair bit of attention outside of racing if the marketed it well. Even get a radio station to run it... It would give racing a face, an image and some exposure.

That's just one idea, but why are those in Wellington so anti trying something new and getting this sport out there? They need to learn the power of the media and marketing if they want to get people back into the sport.

[Tommo Reid 0]

I quite like that idea Hunterville.

Certainly need to be trying different things because turnover is not exactly increasing... I notice lotto has just had record sales over the last year!

[Cunnamulla 73]

I think you will find that the newspapers do their own readership surveys.

When the data is collated and they see that only 0.1% of the people who buy their paper read the racing page they eliminate it.

The only way to do it wouild be to pay for space as though it's an advertisement ... a very expensive exercise if you're buying a whole, or even a half page.

[Tauhei Notts 1,413]

Tommo,

How many winners did today's Bay of Plenty Times pick at yesterday's Rotorua races?

[colx 4]

i live in aussie now and to get any info on nz racing i go to the waikato times on line through our local library and find it very good, trackwork and articles

[Scotch Thistle 133]

The crowds on course at Tauranga since the track was restored seem to have been large and enthusiastic, and not just on the major days. Racing Tauranga must be doing something right, even if the local rag is a joke.

[Tommo Reid 0]

Tommo,

How many winners did today's Bay of Plenty Times pick at yesterday's Rotorua races?

haha you would think they would have had them all...

How poor is it though for a newspaper to carry two articles previewing racing that occured two days prior to the publication date. Absolutely pathetic and underlines the demise of reporting in this country, as Hunterville suggests. Just highlights the era of racing beng considered a sport diminishing into solely a betting product.

[Hunterville 0]

The sad thing is Tommo no one seems to care. How often do we hear anyone from the head offices in Wellington show any sort of interest in this sort of thing? Even on here a small % commented. As Patrick Hogan was quoted as saying a few weeks ago, there needs to be some clear leadership and direction outlined for racing to be heading into.

Just this morning I was reading about how someone thought motorsport was dead in this country, a far cry from the 80's when it was huge. Boxing is another sport that has slumped big time over the last decade or so. Racing is on the same wavelength, how does it become relevant again? Or has it's time been?

[Jkstlkr 1]

Welcome to "Moving forward into the future for the best interests of everyone." What a joke. The only ones getting ahead are the self promoting idiots that put themselves in charge and don't do anything. I'm not talking about the racing industry chiefs as I don't know them but many other places that I see distintegrating before my eyes.

I get Waikato Times because of the racing. Its a very racing friendly paper.

[Tommo Reid 0]

The sad thing is Tommo no one seems to care. How often do we hear anyone from the head offices in Wellington show any sort of interest in this sort of thing? Even on here a small % commented. As Patrick Hogan was quoted as saying a few weeks ago, there needs to be some clear leadership and direction outlined for racing to be heading into.

Just this morning I was reading about how someone thought motorsport was dead in this country, a far cry from the 80's when it was huge. Boxing is another sport that has slumped big time over the last decade or so. Racing is on the same wavelength, how does it become relevant again? Or has it's time been?

Absolutely right... No one seems to care. One aspect administrators obviously thought they could bank on was the iconic stature of racing but the younger generations are not picking up on it at all and if they are, it is generally for the social aspect that a day at the races provides. We really do need to do something NOW and not a day later.

Perhaps an increased focus on the iconic status of racing could be a novel way to pick up extra punters and appeal to the masses. We already know the success of the 'beige brigade, stubbies, L&P etc so why not play on the success that those campaigns have achieved and apply it to racing to attract younger patrons and ensure a whole new generation become interested in racing. There are few things in this country more iconic than racing. Possibly a silly idea but an idea nonetheless... One ahead of those offices in Petone!

[Hunterville 0]

Good idea tommo, the retro theme is definitely in at the moment... the only advertising I saw of the Spring Carnival and the big races was on Trackside. Yes, they make all these flash adverts for the racing public telling them the biggest races of the year are coming up, but nothing to anyone else!!

As you said now is the time to act, a day at the races is quite cheap compared to other forms of entertainment, they should be marketing it as that during the recession. Christmas at the Races has been a success from what I've seen, I just did a google search and found http://www.theraces.co.nz full of heaps of info on the upcoming races, even family passes to be won... why don't they market this??? They have the money in the coffers, for once why don't they put a bit of effort into the sport without worrying about how many cents in the dollar it will return.

[Daveski 13]

Good idea tommo, the retro theme is definitely in at the moment... the only advertising I saw of the Spring Carnival and the big races was on Trackside. Yes, they make all these flash adverts for the racing public telling them the biggest races of the year are coming up, but nothing to anyone else!!

As you said now is the time to act, a day at the races is quite cheap compared to other forms of entertainment, they should be marketing it as that during the recession. Christmas at the Races has been a success from what I've seen, I just did a google search and found http://www.theraces.co.nz full of heaps of info on the upcoming races, even family passes to be won... why don't they market this??? They have the money in the coffers, for once why don't they put a bit of effort into the sport without worrying about how many cents in the dollar it will return.

Not sure who you've been talking to but the CATR marketing has been very effective and much to my surprise, the CATR meeting is wildly exceeding my expectations.

In this case, the success of the marketing appears to be that they have reached non-racing people. I've been aware of some of the marketing but I have to admit their research and implementation has hit the mark.

Admittedly, they've put some resources into it but turning mid-week industry days into successful events is a real achievement, particularly in this climate.

In this case, hats off to the NZRB

[Tommo Reid 0]

CATR is doing extremely well this year by all accounts. The first CATR meeting in Tauranga pulled in huge numbers. There were thousands at the track with close to 3,000 people alone catered for in the corporate areas, which is a record for that track.

But was the all important turnover up or down?

Other than more of us being on track, does the CATR promotion ensure more of us are tuning into trackside and having a bet?

Don't get me wrong... I believe CATR is a brilliant campaign and serves its purpose considerably well for the 6 week period leading up to Christmas but there is another 46 weeks of each year that needs consideration.

[Daveski 13]

I think CATR needs to seen as part of the long game ie getting people back on track.

In the short term, clubs will be double dipping anyway - getting a higher % of profit from the food and bevvies and on my experience getting higher on course turnovers. As I said, in many cases, these are no more than industry days that through a bit of effective spin have become successful "events".

Will it turn these people into long term racing fans? Hard to say but it's a positive start.

I agree that there are another 40 weeks we need to work on but CATR and the other promotions are starting to build up racing audiences again.

[Bert 0]

CATR is doing extremely well this year by all accounts. The first CATR meeting in Tauranga pulled in huge numbers. There were thousands at the track with close to 3,000 people alone catered for in the corporate areas, which is a record for that track.

But was the all important turnover up or down?

Other than more of us being on track, does the CATR promotion ensure more of us are tuning into trackside and having a bet?

Don't get me wrong... I believe CATR is a brilliant campaign and serves its purpose considerably well for the 6 week period leading up to Christmas but there is another 46 weeks of each year that needs consideration.

Turnover was up 21.3% on course.

[Tommo Reid 0]

Turnover was up 21.3% on course.

Yes that was to be expected considering the huge numbers that were on track. But do you know what the turnover was off course?

[Tommo Reid 0]

I think CATR needs to seen as part of the long game ie getting people back on track.

In the short term, clubs will be double dipping anyway - getting a higher % of profit from the food and bevvies and on my experience getting higher on course turnovers. As I said, in many cases, these are no more than industry days that through a bit of effective spin have become successful "events".

Will it turn these people into long term racing fans? Hard to say but it's a positive start.

I agree that there are another 40 weeks we need to work on but CATR and the other promotions are starting to build up racing audiences again.

I agree, it is a good start and certainly a promotion that is well supported and seems to have really taken off.

Although the new broadcast setup will be a step in the right direction, I still feel a hell of a lot more needs to be done to further our position in the sports entertainment and gambling markets. Going by the attitude of wider NZ media such as the BOP Times, there is a considerable amount of work required to change attitudes and perceptions of our industry. Fancy having a Rugby game previewed three days after the game!

Look at the initiative that the Soccer players association implemented with respect to the 'one goal for glory' promotion. Brilliant promotion. Big idea and costly for the players who shelled out for it but didn't they pull it off brilliantly. Very few people in NZ would have missed it and a lot of media duplicated that line in to their coverage.

[Hunterville 0]

DodgyDave I said CATR had been a success... I am asking as Tommo said to make an effort all year round as opposed to just a few weeks over christmas. This is about bringing people back to the races full stop, not just for one event.. and maybe a bit of investment that won't see quick returns financially but will benefit the NZ racing industry in the long run.