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Could I please ask for help from all race goers, decreasing racecourse attendances have been a concern for recent years in horse racing therefore my dissertation research is investigating how this issue can be overcome. Racecourses and racing trainers are on board with this research therefore require the participation of race goers also. Please could you take less than a minute to complete my survey which is on the influence social media has on increasing racecourse attendances:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NZNDPX8
Your help will be very useful and appreciated.
Thank You
Every year there’s some randomer who’s decided to do a dissertation and signs up here to get us all to fill it in.
And here I find myself, filling out a new survey, maybe hopeful that Emily will one day remember me and give me a rye smile across the racecourse on a cold winters night at Kempton.
Or maybe she’ll disappear into the abyss, never to be seen again, collecting her Masters before we know it while we receive little to no recognition.
The life of a punter is a struggle, I just hope Emily knows the trials and tribulations us good folk go through to ensure her education isn’t wasted.
Hi Ben, Firstly thank you very much for completing my survey I really appreciate it.
However, I find it interesting/sad that you feel the need to address me as a ‘randomer’ yet know nothing about my personal involvement in racing but I will leave that one with you.
I can appreciate the life of a punter may well be a struggle, but so is the life of an owner, breeder, trainer and with decreasing racecourse attendances this all has a knock on effect reducing the funds available to racecourses to constantly make improvements, raise the prize fund and attract owners to races which all has a negative impact to everyone involved in the industry.
Once again, thanks for spending time to complete my survey.
Emily
Oops, Can of worms inadvertently opened.
Emily, nobody can be faulted for trying to find a way to increase the number of racegoers, but racing is so reliant on betting income – Levy and media rights – from off-track sources that even 10,000 new racegoers would be a teaspoonful in the ocean.
Racing as a customer entertainment business model, without betting (I know you’re not proposing that; I’m just trying to illustrate the task you face) is an entirely hopeless case. Not a single racetrack would survive, not because of the failings of the track itself, but because there’d be no infrastructure.
Sorry to pour doom upon gloom in what is turning out to be, many would say, a pretty grim day for the planet.
The purposes of the survey is mainly for my dissertation whilst offering advice from data I receive to the racecourses, not to aim to improve racing and tackle large scale issues.
There is absolutely no denying that without the betting sector, the consequences would be damaging for the whole horse racing industry and it simply would not be able to function.However, there are small things that can be done to increase racecourse attendances and it is those little things that racecourses can improve to get the punters in.
No doom and gloom about your comment, I just dislike the comment I received previously about being a ‘randomer’ and the negative comments.
My local course is Warwick, it is as if they are trying to lower attendances.
It is now like an open air morgue.Good luck Emily, I completed your survey but doubt my responses will be of much help.
One thing not covered in your survey is marketing. Could racecourses benefit from better advertising/marketing to boost attendances and should the cost be borne by the individual racecourse or by a central racing body?
How many people who seldom or never go racing might be tempted to go if they saw an advert on TV or in their local paper (or heard on the radio) highlighting what the sport has to offer?
A big race coming up? A clash of two or more top-class horses on the card? Why not accentuate this on a TV ad?
Most second-rate circuses or fairs manage their advertising better than racing.
(It would help of course if racing had a fairer geographical spread of its top races rather than so many being in the South East!).
You might find it beneficial to get in touch with Chester Racecourse who seem more aggressive in this area than most, the Clerk-of-the-course has a reputation as a very smart businessman who’s not afraid to try new approaches.
Anyway, good luck in your research.A big race coming up? A clash of two or more top-class horses on the card? Why not accentuate this on a TV ad?
Sorry to be cynical but these days you would probably get more through the gates if you reduced drink prices than highlighted a clash between two top horses. Sadly, I think those days are long gone. Racing is now marketed as a day out with horses involved.
Thank you to you all for participating.
Sadly, I agree with the point that racing is turning into a day off boozy social events rather than appreciating racing at its finest. I feel Hexham is one of few that attracts racegoers who genuinely love the sport and not just to get drunk!!
As for the point of adding the other questions to my survey, it is mainly for my dissertation and having too many questions tends to put people off as too consuming and needed to keep questions focused on my specific question which is the influence of social media.
Racecourses target once or twice a year punters. Drink is too widely available for my liking – though probably more to the liking of those average racegoers. Racecourses no longer produce racing for racing enthusiasts, because they think we’ll turn up whatever they do anyway.
One thing’s for sure, “social media” won’t make any difference to me – can barely text.
Value Is EverythingI have completed the survey, however as I don’t follow any racecourses on social media a lot of the questions were not applicable to me unfortunately!
I don’t think there is any correlation between decreasing attendances and social media in my opinion. This suggests that an apparent lack of information that is only available via racecourses tweeting or posting on Facebook is seemingly the reason for the reduction, or perhaps an affiliation or being part of a community that can be harnessed online. As I stated in the survey, I don’t use social media for this reason is because if i wanted to find out about fixtures or tickets I will use the actual website of the racecourse, or give them a call. Now this is perhaps me being a traditionalist, but I think this is precisely the point – a lot of racegoers are generally older in age, and do not often use social media (generally speaking). I don’t think encouraging this route, i.e. aiming at the younger generation, is the best way to go to improve the situation, maybe reducing prices, or making certain courses more accessible to the public (e.g. better transport links) are just some of the ways that can help.
In the meantime I wish you all the best with your dissertation although I think you can summarise in 1-2 pages of A4 if you ask me!
PS I thought there was too much of a gap in terms of the how often do you go racing question – monthly and annually, I tend to go 4-5 times a year but there was no option for that…
Racecourse attendances increased by 5.3% in 2015 to over 6 million, with an average attendance increase of 4.4% and the highest average attendance since 2007
Thanks again for completing, even if you don’t use social media your still really helping – thats the whole point of my research. Social media is a huge topic to discuss, its not a simple discussion on racecourse attendances so I am really enjoying collecting my data and gaining opinions/facts from you all and from racecourses in a separate research survey.
I take the point of not having the option to say a couple of times a year so perhaps that is something to rectify in the future.
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