Racing Victoria Assignment

7/31/2019 Racing Victoria Assignment

1/18

Name:

Student No.:

Module Title: Marketing Management 2010/11

Module No.: BMO6505

Word Count: 2714 (excluding tables)


2/18

Introduction:

Thoroughbred horse racing is a significant sport for audience in Australia, deemed to be part of their

culture, alongside betting on horse racing becoming an admired pastime. Just to form an idea of the

intensity of gambling on horse racing, AUS$ 24.3 billion was wagered in the year 2009-10 with

Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) and Bookmakers, showing the audience interest in wagering (australian

racing fact book - arf, 2010). The two kinds of thoroughbred racing that takes place in Australia are races

over hurdles or fences and flat racing in South Australia and Victoria.

Thoroughbred racing has become the third most attended audience sport in Australia, just falling behind

the rugby league and rules football, with approximately 2 million entries to 360 registered race courses in

2009-10 all across Australia (arf, 2010).

But in recent years, several studies have indicated that the Australian nation is losing interest

thoroughbred horse racing, simply because of the complexity of the rules and procedures of race

and wagering, and due to the lack of interactivity between the audience and the sport.

This report aims to present a comprehensive analysis of the thoroughbred racing industry in

Australia and the current role of Victorian Racing Limited in it. Then after conducting an inclusive

situation analysis, the report will present ways as to how Racing Victoria can increase participation

and fan base by developing advocates for racing.

Executive Summary:

AUS$ 24.3 billion was wagered in the year 2009-10 on horse racing via Totalisator Agency

Board (TAB) and Bookmakers.

Thoroughbred racing is the third most attended audience sport in Australia.

Australia has the most race courses in the world and it is on the third position globally in

terms of the prize money that is given away annually.

The horse racing industry in Australia provides part-time or full-time employment to

almost 250,000 people, which is an equivalent to 77,000 jobs.

Australia has got 14 major clubs out of the total of 374 clubs.

NSW has conducted the most races and race meetings in the last 10 years amongst all

states.


3/18

In the year 2009/10, NSW has contributed the most in thoroughbred wagering turnover in

Australia, 25.54% of the total turnover.

Industry Analysis:

Racing in Australia

The Australian Racing Board is responsible for administering the racing in Australia; with each

states main racing authority is in accordance to conform to impose the Australian Rules of Racing.

A part from being a popular audience sport, the horse racing industry also provides part-time or

full-time employment to almost 250,000 people, which is an equivalent to 77,000 jobs. In addition,

almost 300,000 individuals have direct stake as members of syndicate or individual owners thatowns the 30,000 horses in training in Australia (arf, 2010).

Important Races

Audiences interest has been mounting up recently in thoroughbred racing, particularly in autumn

racing carnivals and main spring, with more than 100,000 appealed to the Victoria Derby, VRC

Oaks race meets and the Melbourne Cup. Other major attractions are the Caulfield Cup, W S Cox

Plate and Golden Slipper Stakes (Australian racing board, 2011).

Administration of Racing in Australia

The Australian Racing Board (ARB) is accountable for the supervision of racing in the continent

of Australia and the body is beyond the supremacy of all clubs, which was used to be independent

bodies of racing before for their respective states until the new government reforms introduced a

separate governing body of the industry. The (ARB) is directly liable for; the maintenance and

establishment of the pattern racing committees; allocating black type status; and establishingracing rules. It is also responsible for making an acknowledged calendar for racing and to establish

advisory groups to endeavor to preserve harmony in procedures amongst states (Racing Victoria,

2011).

Victoria


4/18

Victoria is deemed to be the home of horse racing in Australia with international races such as

Melbourne Cup and the governing body for the state is Racing Victoria Limited. The main club is

the Victoria Racing Club which races at Flemington, alongside other metropolitan clubs Moonee

Valley Racing Club, which is home for Cox Plate - the weight for age championship for

Australasia, and the Melbourne Racing Club which races at Sandown and Caulfield. The state

swanks several top class country and provincial race courses which entail, Mornington, Ballarat,

Stony Creek etc (arf, 2011).

Betting

In Australia, there are four major paths for race betting. Firstly, there are licensed on track

bookmakers that present fixed odds betting, typically on places and wins. Then there is Off-track

betting, traditionally controlled by Totalisator Agency Boards (TAB) that presented pari-mutuel

betting i.e. the odds are not fixed but entailed the house taking a fixed cut and giving away the

remainder to people won the bet.

In some regions of Australia there was a custom of illegal off-course bookmaking, known as SP

bookmaking, which historically involved large turnover; still it is uncertain whether it still prevails.

Lastly, there is exchange betting online person to person betting - where members set their own

prices and pay in commission a percentage of their winnings (arf, 2011).

Major Race Clubs

Australia has got 14 major clubs out of the total of 374 clubs. All clubs arrange metropolitan

meetings almost on a weekly basis. The list of the major race clubs and their territories are given

below:

State Club(s) Race track(s)

Victoria Victoria Racing Club Flemington, Caulfield, Sandown


5/18

Melbourne Racing Club

Queensland Sydney Turf Club Rosehill, Canterbury, Doomben, Eagle Farm

Brisbane Racing Club Gold Coast

Gold Coast Turf Club

New SouthWales Moonee Valley Race Club Moonee Valley, Randwick, Warwick Farm

Australian Jockey Club

South Australia South Australian Jockey Club Morphettville

West Australia Western Australian Turf Club Belmont Park, Ascot

Tasmania Tasmanian Racing Club Hobart (Elwick)

Tasmanian Turf Club Launceston (Mowbray) ACT Canberra Racing Club Canberra

North Territory Darwin Turf Club Fannie Bay

Table 1: Source (Arf, 2011)

Comparison of the number of races and race meetings amongst states

It can be seen from the given below tables that in terms of race meetings and races that have taken

place in the last 10 years, New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (VIC) and Queensland (QSW) have

done better, providing more entertainment to the residents of its state and the horse racing

audience in general. But the race meetings have declined slightly for Victoria and Queensland over

the past few years.


6/18

Table 2: Source (arf, 2011)


Thoroughbred Wagering

The given below table shows the comparison of percentage of thoroughbred wagering turnover

amongst states in Australia. In the year 2009-10, New South Wales and Victoria have contributed

the most in the total Australian Thoroughbred Turnover, which shows the increased interest of its

residents in wagering.



7/18

Viewer Profile of thoroughbred racing in general

Variables Description

Sex Male, Female

Age 18-70

Profession Business Professionals, Farm Manager; Workers,

Sports Fanatics, Trainers, Breeders, Veterinarian, Bloodstock Agent etc

Benefits Sought Adventure, Thrill Dominance, Passion, Pleasure, Time Pass, Victory

Table 5

Decline in the interest of thoroughbred racing

In the wake of major entertainment and sports competition, the core fervent fan base for racing is

declining. Racing was situated in 19th place for fanatical passion in a survey which assessed

passion for all kinds of entertainment. Only 14% of those surveyed rated racing with a score of 4

or 5 out of 5.

Figure 1: (Laing, 2011)

When assessed only against other sports, racing rates ninth for general interest (25%) with 11% of

correspondents deemed as fanatics and 14% rated as fans.


8/18


Horse Racing brand is currently driven by the underlying brands of wagering operators, clubs and

events (SRC, Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, and Cox Plate). In the given below chart, when

research compared Horse Racing to other sports revealed some important points:

More people agreed Horse Racing was a sport losing its relevance than any other sport.

Often contradictory brand images probably due to the various events or sub-brands.


9/18


Situation Analysis for Racing Victoria:

Product Offering

Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) is the main authority responsible for administering thoroughbred racing

in the state of Victoria, Australia. RVL was developed with the assistance of racing industry bodies,

racing clubs and the State Government to offer sovereign supervision of thoroughbred racing in the state

of Victoria.

Its vision is to improve the Victorian thoroughbred racing industrys stature as a foremost world class

sports industry offering quality, integrity and entertainment. Its aim is to:

Offer Best Practice

Strengthen economic performance

Influence prospects afar Victoria and

Value the community, people and wellbeing of the horse (Racing Victoria, 2011).


10/18

Constitutional Goals

The constitutional goals for RVL are to motivate, develop, administer and endorse the demeanor of racing

of thoroughbred horses in Victoria by certifying:

Superiority: Victorian thoroughbred racing is renowned worldwide and throughout Australia as

the best in racing excellence.

Customer Services.

Economic benefits: RVL's management and Victorian thoroughbred racing clubs' costs, revenues,

liabilities and assets utilizes the economic benefits capitulated by Victorian thoroughbred racing to all

participants and stakeholders.

Social Responsibilities: Victorian thoroughbred racing endeavors to meets its social duties to

Victoria and the community in which it operates by:

1) Promoting Victoria via thoroughbred industry

2) Motivating responsible gaming and wagering

3) Creating employment opportunities via thoroughbred industry.

Providing breathtaking 50 days of top class racing action which entail:

1) Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival.

2) Tatts Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley.

3) Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington (Arf, 2011).

Events for the promotion and celebration of the racing industry

Victorian thoroughbred Racing Awards 2011 at crown

palladium.


11/18

Australian race horse of the year and hall of fame2011 at crown palladium.

Current Promotion

Herald Sun Form guide: 1.5 million reader everyday.

612 Tab outlets.

1.6 million Annual race goers.

2 million national weekly radio audiences.

Victoria racing shown in 31 countries by Sky Racing.

Melbourne Cup viewed by 700 million viewers in 120 countries.

400,000 unique visits on Racing Victoria Website.

Objectives:

To increase participation and fan base for Racing Victoria through developing advocates for

racing. To achieve the objectives, Racing Victoria must:

1. Educate audience about the overall horse racing experience in a way that is easily digested

and fun.


12/18

2. Strengthen the message that horse racing is the definitive interactive experience YOU are

part of the game.

3. Motivate and facilitate both current devotees and newer race goers to share the joys of

horse racing with family and friends.

Marketing strategy

The marketing strategy for Racing Victoria is to be derived on the basis of strategic thrust, identified

using Ansoff matrix. The SWOT analysis is given below for identification of thrust for strategy.

SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis for Racing Victoria shows opportunity in terms of expanding its target market by

raising awareness and engaging youth in it. Despite a declining trend of horse racing generally in

Australia, Racing Victoria has relatively done well in terms of making a consistent brand image and

providing excellence in thoroughbred racing (arf, 2011).

Strategic thrust

According to Ansoff matrix, the strategic thrust is to be of market penetration and development.

The strategy should be to penetrate in the existing target market with the existing thoroughbred

racing excellence and to engage the audience more with the sport, and alongside develop the

market by involving youth as well towards thoroughbred racing.

Strengths

Strong Brand: Consideredhome of thoroughbredracing in Australia

International Races:Melbourne Cup

World Class Race Clubs

International ViewershipExceptional CustomerServices

Socially Responsible

Weaknesses

Horse Racing interest is indecline

Limited interaction withbookmakers

Less awareness about wagering

Less awareness of horse racingLess engagement of audiencewith the sport

Opportunities

Brand image repositioningIncreased target market:

Youth FocusedImproved Customer

ExperienceAudience engagement:

InteractivityCreating awareness about

thoroughbred racing andwagering

Threats

Thoroughbred interest is indecline amongst audience

Other Sports are more popularCompetition from other clubs


13/18

Ansoff Matrix

Existing Products New Products

Existing Markets

New Markets

Source: Larsen, 2007

Target Market

As per the strategic thrust, the target market for Racing Victoria is defined in the below table:

Variables Description

Sex Male, Female

Occupation/General Profile Students, Teenagers, Business Professionals, Sports Lovers, Farmers, Trainers,

Breeders, Veterinarian, Bloodstock Agent, Punters, Tech Savvy etc

Region Victoria, Australia and world wide

Age 15-70

Income Level Any

Benefits Sought Adventure, Thrill Dominance, Passion, Pleasure, Time Pass, Victory

Positioning Strategy

The positioning strategy is changed slightly after keeping in mind the declining interest of

audience in thoroughbred racing in Australia. This time around, there will be more interactivity

with the audience which will be related to the sporting action, ultimate fitness of the jockeys, the

splendor of the race horses, the drama before the race, wagering and much more.

Market

Penetration

Racing Victoria

Market

Development

Market

Development

Racing Victoria Diversification


14/18

The focus of Racing Victoria will be pretty much on the teenagers; and the youngsters will be

allowed to enter for free for a particular number of visits and the aim is to attract students with no

disposable income, just to create awareness and association with the kids.

Perceptual Map for Racing Victoria

Proposed positioning for Racing Victoria

Source: (Larsen, 2007)

Strategy:

The strategy is adopt pull communications strategy to reach audience via media coverage, ground

activities, communities and free entry for youngsters to create awareness about the sport and give

them a taste to it.

High PriceHigh Price

Low

Preferenc

e

Low

Preferenc

e

Low PriceLow Price

High

Preferenc

e

High

Preferenc

e

Racing

Victoria


15/18

Tactics:

The tactics that needs to be implemented to achieve the strategic objectives are given below:

Eradicate negative stigmas from public view the shady, gloomy gambler is a

misconception that needs to be removed.

Converse with audiences in a way thats engaging, humble and fun!

Probe deeper into details that make a day at the races a solid experience. Not just how to

bet, but also:

What to look for in the paddock

Get inside the minds of the trainers

What to watch for during the race

How to understand the language of the track

Live horse racing experience for the family in order to create awareness about the sports,

make them familiar of the outstanding facilities offered at Racing Victoria Clubs, and to make

the audience feel that they are part of the game Enhanced Customer Experience.

Action:

Product

Racing Victoria as a brand will continue offering world class racing experience to the audience

by organizing international racing tournaments, race meetings, offering best customer services and

endeavor to engage audience by giving real time experience. Being socially responsible by offering


16/18

employment and boosting the economy by contributing to the Australian thoroughbred racing

industry will be the core values of the brand.

Pricing

Pricing strategy will remain the same but there will be an incentive for kids/youngsters to come

and enjoy thoroughbred racing at any of the Racing Victorias clubs for free to create interest and

awareness amongst the youth.

Place

Racing Victoria will continue to provide racing excellence through its exiting racing clubs in

Victoria, i.e. the Melbourne and the Victoria Racing Club.

Promotion

A part from the existing promotional tools that were earlier studied in the report, Racing Victoria

will introduce the given below promotional techniques too in order to increase its fan base and to

enhance its customer services experience:

Additional Promotional Tools

1) Giveaways at track: (itunes cards, ipods,1% in partnership)

2) Concerts the same night as big race days3) Free admission to racing clubs

4) First Class sports book at every track

5) Free Wi-Fi

6) Give away a 1% ownership in partnership every Saturday

7) "Frequent flyer" program. Increased perks with higher status

8) Free PP's and race replays

9) Free valet parking

10) Escorted backstretch access

Table 7

Control:

The victory of a marketing campaign is determined by managements interaction with

implementation team on regular basis to monitor the developments. A participative style of


17/18

management will be adopted by Racing Victoria for pre-empting and dealing with any short-

comings.

Racing Victoria will ensure management review meetings and performance measurement reports

shall be used to manage the progress and cater for lacking.

The overall progress of Racing Victorias campaign will be evaluated by assessing the impact of

marketing activities on sales worldwide. And the results will also be assessed by customer

feedback collection on regular intervals worldwide.

Conclusion

In this report, light was shed on the thoroughbred racing in general and a comprehensive analysis

of the racing industry in Australia was carried out. It is learnt from the report that thoroughbred

racing has remained a popular sport in Australia for over a long period of time and people see it

more as part of their culture. But recently, the interest in horse racing has declined amongst

audience and people are taking interest in other sports.

Many reasons contribute to the declining interest of horse racing, but the main factors that emerged

from the study were the lack of understanding of horse racing and wagering, and no interaction of

the game with audience. Even though Racing Victoria is the best when it comes to offering racing

excellence in Australia, but whilst conducting the company and the industry analysis, it was

determined that steps need to be taken by Racing Victoria in order to expand its target audience

and to engage the existing market via more interaction with the audience.

An inclusive marketing audit was performed in the report and on the basis of it new promotional

tools and techniques were recommended to Racing Victoria in order to retain a strong brand image

and to increase participation and fan base via creating advocates for racing.


18/18

Bibliography:

Australian racing Fact Book (2011)

http://www.australianracingboard.com.au/uploadimg/ARB2010a.pdf [Accessed 1/5/2011].

Australian Racing Board: An Insight on Thoroughbred Racing in Australia

http://www.australianracingboard.com.au/ [Accessed 2/5/2011]

Key Note (2008).

www.brad.ac.uk[Accessed 5/5/2011].

Larsen, G. (2007). Principles of marketing.Full time MBA course manual, School of management,

University of Bradford.

Racing Victoria Website (2011).

http://www.racingvictoria.net.au/default.aspx [Accessed 5/5/2011].

Laing, S. (2011). Presentation on Thoroughbred Racing in Victoria.
http://www.australianracingboard.com.au/uploadimg/ARB2010a.pdfhttp://www.australianracingboard.com.au/http://www.brad.ac.uk/http://www.racingvictoria.net.au/default.aspxhttp://www.australianracingboard.com.au/uploadimg/ARB2010a.pdfhttp://www.australianracingboard.com.au/http://www.brad.ac.uk/http://www.racingvictoria.net.au/default.aspx

Racing Victoria Assignment

Documents