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I don’t think there’s anything new in that article. It’s just a drawn out version of the points already made on this thread, only we don’t paid for the privilege.
I think he is very wrong to just concentrate the criticism on ITV. All outlets are full of cheerleaders. There is no more obvious cheerleader in racing than Alex Hammond. She’s never more than a few seconds away from a misplaced superlative. Criticism has long become a dirty word. The viewer is constantly taken for a fool.
Thank the Lord someone in the racing media has stuck their head above the parapet. It’s a shame Forristal didn’t go a bit further.
The National is going the same way as the FA Cup Final which has lost all meaning where most viewers could take or leave it. The FA Cup final could once upon a time captivate TV audiences running into the tens of millions as could the National even accepting there were less channels.
Just like the National the start time alters every few years. The New Wembley now looks just like any other football ground as does the National looking like any other race. There are few stories to be had just like the National and very little drama. You can barely remember the players names from year to year just as we won’t remember many of those who take part in the National. They were probably trained by Mullins or Elliott whoever they were. The finishes will all look the same as 27 or 28 runners make the final turn. Every FA Cup Final memory seemingly merges into one.
Perhaps I should just be grateful that my informative years were through the 1970s when both events would empty the High Streets across the land.
Forristal’s article makes a lot of good points. I assume he is independent of any vested interests and can take an objective view, unlike other people in the racing media.
I would only question his inclusion of the television viewing figures as somehow supporting his argument. The 1.4 million missing viewers did not know the race would be run at a crawl or have little in the way of drama, so that can’t be the reason they not watch the race this year.
Perhaps the earlier start time had something to do with it. I don’t watch ITV very much but did the channel do a good enough job promoting the race? Was it advertised before programmes like “Coronation Street” etc?
Listening to the Nick Luck podcast yesterday, the host said he looked in the television guide of last week’s edition of “The Sunday Times”. On the Saturday listings page, the Grand National was not included in the What To Watch programmes and was not even featured in the Sport To Watch section.
Does the Grand National still resonate in the way it did? As I understand it, the Kentucky Derby and the Melbourne Cup no longer stop their nations in quite the same way. Britain has changed hugely since the Grand National’s heyday. Are we being a bit unrealistic to think it will have the same impact in today’s population and in a multi-channel age?
I don’t think it does resonate the same way now CAS, though the same is true of many of the big sporting events. The welfare angle is the other big difficulty for the National though.
10 years ago, my social media feeds contained plenty of associates who were once a year punters commenting about the race. However, in recent years, such posts have without exception been pounced on by angry voices claiming cruelty and horse murder. And keep in mind this is people who know the poster, not anonymous randoms.
This year, I didn’t see any posts about the National at all. I think a lot of the general public who like the race are gradually being deterred by the vocal minority. They aren’t passionate about it, so it’s not worth the hassle.
This is among the reasons why I am supportive of Aintree being so proactive about welfare, even though I miss the race of old.
I wonder how many office sweepstakes there are now. I bet the number has nosedived in recent years. Of course, that’s if there is anyone still in the office to begin with…
The social media point is important. I think it is more dominated by activists than it was 10 years ago, across a range of subjects. They can be quite unpleasant, so it is no wonder a lot of people choose to stay quiet.
I reckon the number of office sweepstakes has declined. There is a chance someone might be offended and complain to HR. It is not worth the hassle.
I live only a few miles from Aintree. The “Liverpool Echo” did its usual Grand National edition and there was a reasonable amount of publicity, including a huge advert in Lime Street station. But I felt there wasn’t quite the same sense of anticipation this year.
I ran my first Grand National sweepstake in my 1st year at secondary school aged 11 the year Rag Trade won.
I continued running the office sweepstakes when I started work aged 17. Out of an office of say 80 you would get about 2 staff members decline on animal welfare grounds.
That might have increased by 1 or 2 by the 1990s.
It wasn’t much fun doing the Office sweepstake after the false start and bomb scare National’s. I stopped doing them soon after to avoid any more grief.
With so many working from home now would you even think to do an office sweepstake?
By the way when doing the sweepstake I would always cater for every type of horse. There used to be a prize for the horse finishing last.
The trouble with social media is that it thrives on clicks and ‘engagement’ etc. There is little room for the large middle ground who just get drowned out by the loudmouths at the extreme ends of debates. I far prefer the chat on places like this where things are generally much more respectful.
I used to work in an office of 70 or so and they were still running a National sweepstake about five years ago but I have since left so I do not know if it is still going. There were certainly some there who went racing occasionally and a couple were quite into the PTP scene.
At my current place they don’t do one, although one chap does do something for the football World Cup/Euros, both men’s and women’s, so clearly there is no aversion to the ‘gambling’ aspect of it at least. I don’t partake so I don’t know how many get involved. He is originally from overseas so it may simply be the case that racing simply isn’t on his radar, I cannot imagine the audience for the National is big outside the UK and Ireland.
Marlingford.I only had one Grand National post on my Facebook page from the usual people and that was an article about the number of horses in the race wearing tongue ties and how many pull up. And no posts after the race.
Popped into my local co-op on Sunday and there sat a stack of at least 30 unsold Grand National Day Racing Posts.
Not surprised the price they charge. The Racing Post Weekender is now £5.90!! I’m dreading the day there is no print version of the trade paper. Hate looking at form online. They should get the online subscription to help subsidise the print version.
Wasn’t happy when the Racing Post stopped printing the results books for NH & Flat. But for Covid they would probably still be printing it. Of course we lost the Timeform annuals too.
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