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One of the reasons that racing struggles for sponsorship outside of the gambling corporates is that strictly speaking it does not represent good value for money.l
Given what you say there, what do you make of this quote.
‘You could ask why a mean, nasty, cheap airline, which doesn’t waste tuppence, has got involved with what appears to be a luxury activity, but it makes fantastic sense, because jump racing is a terrific sponsorship opportunity that offers terrific value’ – Michael O’Leary, chief execuitve of Ryanair, announces continued sponsorship of the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham until 2012.
Why can’t the Boylesports International be called the Boylesports International Bula hurdle [or whatever] – Bula isn’t a brand name but the name of a horse that stays in peoples minds. When someone sponsors the Grand National they don’t drop the Grand National part because it’s the association that stays in the memory….
It’s not just the big races. Bread and butter races at lots of meetings were often named after nearby towns and villages, or were memorials to people and horses connected with the course. They weren’t household names, but they meant something to local racing people and provided some pleasing continuity by their annual appearance in race names.
This little bit of heritage has been lost because of the expansion in the number of fixtures and the blanket renaming of races with only the sponsors names. I can understand the need for that, but it’s so much less meaningful than the old names.
Why can’t the Boylesports International be called the Boylesports International Bula hurdle [or whatever] – Bula isn’t a brand name but the name of a horse that stays in peoples minds. When someone sponsors the Grand National they don’t drop the Grand National part because it’s the association that stays in the memory….
Totally agree.
To be honest as a racing entusiast I couldn’t give a stuff about the "brand awareness". Sponsorship fine but the Bula hurdle is always the Bula to me the same way the Mackeson is always the Mackeson and frankly I find it insulting that someone should complain about the Bula being refered to as such.
Horse racing is a sport not just an advertising vehicle. It’d be nice if people remembered that from time to time.
Good post, Ravel.
Regarding the Bula Hurdle, wouldn’t it be nice if a few newspapers just referred to it as the Bula, including in the runners and riders on the actual day of the race? That might shake up the authoritiesa bit.
Does anyone know why some sponsored races are titled “the sponsor’s name, registered as the old race name? What is this registration status? Could there be more of it, so as to protect the old names and guarantee they still appear in the race titles?
Flash,
You have to be my age to remember that Mackeson was just another brand name.
How far back do you go with this traditional names thing – do you refer to the Gloucester Hurdle and the Broadway Chase at the festival, or are they the Supreme Novices Hurdle and the Sun Alliance Chase.
AP
The Ryanair is an interesting case in asmuch as there is a quantifiable commercial value associated with the sponsorship given the association through the http://www.cheltenham.co.uk website and the fact that they fly into both airports Bristol and Birmingham that are closest to Cheltenham from Ireland.
Nonetheless the ability of Mr O’Leary to evaluate its benefits is perhaps clouded by the fact that he is a self-confessed racing nutcase and perhaps there is an element of egotism involved in his firm’s association with the race. It may also be harder for Mr O’Leary to make a comparison in terms of value in that his sponsorship portfolio has no other entries!!
People should perhaps also be guarded with reference to Mr O’Leary’s quotes especially after he promised ” free flights for everyone tonight” in the aftermath of War of Attrition’s St Patrick’s Day Gold Cup victory.
The reference to the Bula as being the Boylesports International Bula is self-evident as long as the name Bula remains in the name title the race will be referred to as such.This devalues the association of the race from a sponsor’s perspective as the brand they have paid a premium to promote isn’t promoted.
I cant but help agree that it is unfortunate that the names of races are changed with the loss of a certain amount of heritage. This regrettably is
inevitable when the business of racing is dependant on external sources of income. I am not sure we want to get into a debate about pari-mutuel monopolies versus bookmakers. However the point must be made that in the business of racing the bookmakers put back into the pot (in terms of sponsorship) a fraction of what they take out in terms of profit.In order to balance my comments earlier – race sponsorship can only be properly leveraged by spending as much again on PR advertising,competitions and entertainment. The mere association with the race in itself is poor value for money in strict advertising terms.By committing to a suite of activity surrounding the event the original investment can be maximised properly and value for money gained.
I cannot see what Mackeson as a beer brand were doing associating themselves with a race if not as an advertising vehicle?
Racing is a business – one that dramatically undercharges for its day to day product to its buyers and then often overcharges to its sponsors to help them balance the books. The sponsor is entitled to value for money and regrettably its the rich tapestry of history of the sport that suffers.
There is no question that I would prefer to see races like the Whitbread retain its original title bit we must move with the times.
I am very surprised noone has mentioned the loss of both the Edward Hanmer and the Tommy Whittle to be merged as the Betfair Chase – is that because Betfair are seen as a class apart – or the idea of the Betfair Million has brought a fantastic subtext to the season?
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It’s a question of time.
If, in ten years’ time, the Boylesports International is still called the Boylesports International, then the name of Bula won’t be brought up with every renewal of the race.
You can’t expect, after one running of the race under the present banner, everyone to toe the line in regards to its name. And how people refer to it in speech is beyond the reach of any marketing gurus and sponsorship deals.
Wen the next generation comes through, the one that has never heard of Bula, they’ll call it the Boylesports International. Revisionism takes time, unless you’re Pol Pot.
One thing that’s rather odd about this renaming for sponsors lark is that the big feature handicaps never seem to get the same treatment.
Nobody has tried to change the Lincoln, Stewards Cup, Ebor, Ayr Gold Cup, Cambridgeshire, Cesarewitch etc.
Why is that Conall – are they excluded from this process, or is it just the fact that they are all sponsored by bookmakers who are happy to leave the old name in place?
If so, why are Boylesports taking a different line?
AP
Hi Alan
The Tote who sponsor all bar the Lincoln and the Stewards Cup have a sponsorship based on their altruistic " our profits stay in racing" mantra of not changing the racename that they sponsor. The Tote do actually bail out a lot of racecourses as a sponsor when another can’t be found or has reneged.
William Hill as the sponsor of the Lincoln isn’t exactly in the need for brand awareness and its a famous one word race name – Coral Eclipse – another good case in point.
Stewards Cup survives I reckon on the grounds of what else would you call it the Blue Square Sprint?
As far as Boyles are concerned they sponsor the weekend at Cheltemham (which was the Bonusprint as you will recall) and wanted a pure branded flagship event.
A lot can be told in the evolution of the brand and the attitude to racenames – the younger the brand the more aggressive etc. WBX’s claim that they would always retain the race name had more to do with PR and a direct contrast to the previously announced Boylesports bonus than anything else I reckon.
I use to love the Schweppes Gold Trophy then they changed the name.
Ryan Price winning it with Hill House and Elan. Persian War beating Major Rose are still fresh in my memory.
Those were historic racing events and the changing of the name takes something away from that.
Arkle"s famous victory over Rondetto and Mill House in the Gallagher Gold Cup. That day he smashed 17 seconds off the Sandown track record with a huge weight on his back.
We don’t have a Gallagher Gold Cup now we got some other name and again it’s like something has been stripped away, from what was a monumental achievment by Arkle.
All in the mind I suppose.
I agree with your sentiments, and remember when the Schweppes was a massive race, and that Arkle win in the 1965 Gallagher was the best performance in a NH race I’ve seen, but I don’t think Gallagher would not be allowed to sponsor a race nowadays!
Last year it was the wbx.com “Fighting Fifth” Hurdle, for many years before that either the Pertemps “Fighting Fifth” Hurdle or Newcastle Building Society “Fighting Fifth” Hurdle.
It looks like the name of the race is being safeguarded irrespective of the sponsor involved. I wonder if this is a stipulation of Newcastle Racecourse’s exective, as other contests such as the Eider (and the Dipper before it was moved) have similarly kept those names alongside those of their sponsors.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
I know it’s late at night and I’m tired but I had a horrible thought of Champion Chase day becoming Orange Wednesday…..
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