Reply With QuoteOriginally Posted by Richard prior
and pigs might fly.
Melton has pokies and trots, Horsham has pokies and trots, Stawell has pokies and trots, Kilmore has pokies and trots .....
Some form of entertainment needs to be happening at all our trots venues or else the tracks are just underutilized facilities (how I saw my old Yarra Glen track)
But in the end harness racing still has to be attractive and grab an audience or else one day the facilities will be circled by housing not tracks.
Let us say the pokies rooms and restaurants are supplying most of the revenue for the trots (which I think some are declaring to be the case in the US) at what point do the trots no longer become a vital part of the equation.
If you are running subsidiary businesses to fund another business it has to be seen as worth doing it for.
The ethics of Pokies joints being run to fund football clubs is debatable but there is no doubting that people care about football
If a pokies joint was being run to fund a theatre company that nobody gave a rats about - how long before the survival of the theatre company becomes questionable. I would think only until the old brigade are gone.
Gerry Ryan pouring money into Australian cycling/Orica Greenedge team will only last as long as Gerry is around unless people are interested in the cycling product, in which case someone else will keep it going
I fear I am going around in circles (its the drugs) but the crux of it would seem to be having a product that people care about for there are hundreds of things for people to bet on.
For sustainability we have to tap into peoples love of beautiful animals, of horses, of standardbred horses or else it may as well be cartoon video racing
We need champion equine athletes and we need them to get air time - that is a major role for administrators. If we had a standardbred equivalent of Black Caviar going around would the public even hear about it
Our newspapers are full of absolute garbage football stories for filler and yet we cannot get a column inch about ITMQ in some of them
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
and pigs might fly.
We don't know who the other applicants were for the position of CEO but who could doubt the dedication to the sport by John D. It has been his life from his days in the, I think Parkes area. His family are still involved. He is still a country boy and I can imagine he has a few ideas for those regions.
Working along side Rex Horne to me is a benefit, these 2 fought for the current changes and development of Menangle with a long term vision, now the State may benefit.
Having the benefit of being part of a dramatic change from Harold Park to Menangle with all the good and bad that must have been involved and probably is still being felt, can only be an advantage for the future imo.
Or maybe a businessman with no passion for the sport could have been better.........not for me.
As per my post 21, this will be the important thing Adam as we need a new generation to embrace our sport - our fairly unique sport that is NOT just gambling
Thanks for the NSW info and I probably should not have inferred the sale of HP was a mistake as I know very little about Sydney and NSW - I am only equating it with moving the centre of Victoria's harness racing out to Melton where all the converted already live which is over an hours drive for most of Melbourne (no public transport option either)
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
Adam,
Everything that you have outlined is fantastic but it is only what an industry trying to compete in the 21st century should be doing. However it only as it should, gives the industry participants (and its diehard fans) the modern facilities that they deserve. As an aside the very best drivers rooms were at Wyong but they were built for jockeys, what a difference.
In a past life I was heavily involved in marketing and our mantra was to take the product to the users (our brand or not) and those that may become users using the tools available at that time.Unfortunately Harness Racing seems only to 'preach to the converted' by using old media ie: Tv and newsprint. It just doesn't cut the mustard these days. The current generation neither watches TV as we know it nor read newspapers but a 'like' hit on facebook or youtube can generate a flurry of activity. The big question has to be - How do we target and then direct this social media to
garner interest in this sport so as to begin to build a new fan base.
Last edited by Lethal; 08-01-2014 at 10:23 PM.
and Lee the cranky old man that is emerging in me wonders whether this selfie generation is even interested in animals
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
It really doesn't matter, the sport moves with the times or becomes irrelevant to the modern generation.
I'm not sure HOW you do it, but what I do know is that it can be done. Look what Apple did to Blackberry or Facebook did to Myspace, it's not impossible it just needs people who think outside the square.We have a huge horse industry that embraces the use of thoroughbreds in their sport but will not entertain the standardbred. It's the perception of the industry that needs to change.
a perception that the old media perpetuated so maybe the new media will work in our favour
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
My proviso would be if the essence of the sport is destroyed there will be as many jump ship as jump on board - you can count me out on camel racing, chariot racing or any other gimmicks
Greg Sugars was a Champion harness racing person
You're right it's not about gimmicky, one off promotions although they do have their place when warranted. The gallops seem to rely on this type of promotion and it only works with big carnivals. It's about connecting to people that haven't had an involvement in the sport and retaining their interest.
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