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at a time when jumping is awash with valuble races and new sponsors, the two biggist flat races the derby and the king george are now sponsorless.<br>should the flat racing people be worried?
I don’y think the flat racing people should worry, but if i was the Epsom cheif Exec, i would be concerned. The Derby seems to be losing its staus over the last 4 or 5 years in my opinion.
Although, i don’t know if that is the reason. Vodafone have sponsored the derby for 13years (including this years) and maybe they just decided for a change.
Was it De Beers, that have been sponsoring the KG in recent years? I can’t quite remember.
I still think its just a change of scenery for these companies. Many people were worried about the Guineas when Sagitta finished their sponsorship but i think it was within months that Stan James stepped in.
I don’t think it has anything to do with the jumps (although the jump sponsors seem to stay longer)
Although it seemed like a great shame when it stopped being the Thomas Pink Gold Cup.
I don’t think that flat racing is an unpopular, although i prefer the flat so would be biased.
Will be interesting to see who steps up for the Derby though………… wouldn’t surprise me to see a top bookmaking firm take it, they seem to be snapping up all the sponsorship deals for races these days.
OY!!!
If there was no prospects of getting sponsers I’d be very worried but I don’t think they are short of offers. Is this is another flat vs jumps debate you are trying to instigate?
If you are worried flat racing may go under just look around the world….. France, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong, USA, Germany, Australia…. – what do they all have in common? Flat racing. Not worried at all.
Quote: from Stormont on 6:26 pm on Jan. 19, 2007[br]Although it seemed like a great shame when it stopped being the Thomas Pink Gold Cup.<br>
Yes, everyone I know was absolutely distraught when Thomas Pink ended their three year sponsorship. Of course, nobody remembers when it was the Mackeson, do they?
LOL, beat me to it, HJ!<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
and Murphy’s Irish Craic !
Sponsors come and go depending on the interest of brand managers and ultimately CEOs and Chairmen.
Often when new people take over they want to imprint their own identity onto the sponsorship portfolio. I’m sure that the Derby won’t have a problem getting a new sponsor – hanging on to them for 13 years, like Vodafone, is another matter.
There might not be too much into this, other than Vodafone choosing to redistribute their sponsorship budget, they pulled out of a deal to sponsor Manchester United early within the last 12 months.
‘gull the whole mobile market is like a piranah feast at a womens institute meeting just at the moment. You can barely give the things away.
The :old: Derby was moved to a saturday mainly for advertising revenue – yass we know, more viewers, just count the bottoms, not only in this country but arouind the world.
The messing has badly backfired in my opinion as other saturday sport has stolen a distance to leave Epsom with its first sign of premature balding up on the down and no monolulu.
(Edited by gamble at 4:44 pm on Jan. 21, 2007)
I still prefer to call them by their old names, Mackeson,Massey Ferguson, Black & White at Ascot. Gloucester Hurdle,Totalisator novice chase.<br>The Hennessy is the only one left
If I held ANY mobile phone shares, I’d be converned (as DJ alludes to).
The Derby will be sponsored within a month…no worries there.;)
I do believe however that Epsom made a serious mistake transferring the great race to a Saturday. Now that Vodaphone have gone, will they consider changing it back?;)
Quote: from Adrian on 8:33 am on Jan. 20, 2007[br]and Murphy’s Irish Craic !
Sponsors come and go depending on the interest of brand managers and ultimately CEOs and Chairmen.<br>
I can remember the first year that Martell had been taken over by Pernod Ricard. Various HR Professionals from Pernod’s had elected themselves to present many of the prizes, and they all looked like they’d swallowed a set of lemons each.
It was obvious they’d pull the plug as soon as the contract ran out.
I would take it as a sign of weakness if a new sponsor for the Derby can’t be found from outside the racing industry. If a bookmaker takes over, it would presumably be at the cost of their sponsorship of other races in the calendar, races for which it might be much harder to find replacement sponsors.
hmmm not convinced its even remotely connected to economics , what about a load of corruption charges ….bent races (allegedly )…..and hey presto you get a new image , yep thats right , flat racing is as welcome as a toothache in terms of corporate investment because its image for the last 2 yrs is one of ongoing investigations into possible corruption
who wants to be associated with that ??
Ricky
I agree Ricky.. Dragging the Fallon case through the press and over such a long time doesn’t help.. The only time racing makes the back page is due to corruption. If they’d followed the innocent until proven guilty line there would have been less of a furore… All in all I can’t see many outside firms getting involved.
Aside from that issue, where’s the commercial sense in sponsoring the Derby anyway? There’s no way the race is ever going to regain it’s position as a major national event, the sponsors name isn’t going to be used by racing fans (did anyone ever put Vodafone Derby on a post here?) – and the event itself hasn’t the glamour for corporate entertainment that attaches to Ascot, Lords, Wimbledon etc.
AP<br>
(Edited by apracing at 11:15 am on Jan. 23, 2007)
The inherent problem flat racing also has is that the "industry" people make the majority of their money through breeding and sales and not just prize money.. NH has to focus much more on the punter and public to make it successful hence why the Grand National and the Gold Cup probably generate more interest than any flat race.. Ascot is just social event of which the racing happens to be the main piece of entertainment..
I’ve said it before but more tracks should follow what Towcester have done…. If the racing was of a better standard it would be a great track. Plus there are more kids there than any other track which can only be good.
I also believe that Racing should perhaps review the race day format. The shergar cup admittedly doesn;t work but I believe there is an opportunity to create something more interesting without detracting from the betting medium and the quality of racing.
Maybe the HRA should focus on making Racing more attractive after they have cleaned it up.
(Edited by Aragorn at 12:04 pm on Jan. 23, 2007)
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