Originally Posted by
Dot
No Danno not late just rooted in the past. The debate is not about what has been but about the need to change and innovate in order to stem the decline in interest in our sport, which is a worldwide phenomenon. The United States is not the only country to use driver colours, and support for driver colours is not because the United States use them but because the professionals and young people involved in marketing our sport here in Australia say that they can build a much superior brand and promotion for our industry using drivers and driver colours then they are able to do now.
“What the game needs in my humble opinion, is to reconnect with the "man on the street", this can best be done by increasing participation levels”
How do we increase participation levels if we do not first reconnect with the “man on the street” ? And isn’t this the space our young social media professionals operate in, shouldn’t we heed their advice?
The most effective syndication model in the industry in the world for small shares in inexpensive horses connecting the men and women “on the street” through word of mouth via social media is thestable.ca in Canada. Canada is a country that uses driver colours, so clearly driver colours are no barrier to increasing participation levels there.
There is no doubt Danno that known drivers are a benefit to increasing turnover, I had this conversation in Sydney with Sam Nati on more then one occasion. And one of the most marked venues that turnover increased when known Sydney drivers attended was your home track of Newcastle. Making drivers more known and identifiable can only be of further benefit to turnover. I’ve little doubt increased participation levels would be beneficial for turnover, but as we know they have been in steady decline for about three decades, all the while whilst the trainer/owner colours you are advocating for have been in use, and yet you steadfastly resist the notion that we should try change?
We currently use the standardised “greyhound” numbers and variable “thoroughbred” owner/trainer colours, wouldn’t we be leveraging our uniqueness if we went to drivers using their own uniquely identifiable colours? And there is of course currently nothing preventing an owner or trainer decking out their horse in their own colours.
Don’t you feel just a little bit hypocritical Danno? Or has the indigenous driver series changed? Don’t the trainers and owners who provide the horses for these races give up their colours in order for you to wear your unique driver colours?
