99% of those running racing clubs might be passionate racing men- some passionate about lining their own pockets through their not-so-well-guarded outside businesses- but passion for the sport is not enough. It also depends on how this word is defined. There are plenty of “passionate racing men” who are hardcore punters. But they are forced to play by the rules, some of which might have outstayed their welcome but with those passionate racing men who run racing clubs not having bothered to reviee and change them for the times we live in and when technology ha overtaken authority and authority is being questioned. Yes, the lunatics have taken over the asylum and which both sides not even realizing it.
No, to head a racing club today means expanding one’s universe. If this universe is racing pages, hello goodbye and goo goo joob and the Walrus was Paul.
This can be a very myopic and insular world and so removed from the consumer aka the punter and the next generation of racegoers that one is oblivious to the natives getting restless and the jungle drums getting louder. It’s tough to hear from those ivory towers.
The music industry learnt the hard way about ignoring consumers and trying to sue new online mediums.
There are no laws in cyberspace as it is something so grey that’s up there and not governed by the laws of any country that trying to sue anyone for anything other than email espionage which falls under an online law under something like Rule 161 [B]. For the music industry to try and sue Napster intead of partnering with the site was the beginning of the end and where content today can be downloaded for free. Illegal, legal, it’s all grey and music fans don’t really care.
Our world leaders forgot to take care of these cyberspace laws and which is now why even they have taken to twitter to reach those other parts Heineken could never reach and communicate with a generation to whom social media is second nature. If the virtual world of Second Life seemed a fad, Facebook and Twitter have become virtually real second lives.
And there’s much more to come by way of technology and the horse racing industry must be prepared- and learn to lead and not follow.
It’s quite incredible that many of those in the marketing of horse racing don’t even have a twitter account to understand how the other half live and what they are saying and what is turning them on or else pissing them off. Sure, like YouTube, there are the haters and racists twittering on like the old school knobs that they are and completely missing The Big Picture- but they are a minority. Forget ’em ‘cos they are the past. They live there and will die there. So be it.
What the racing world is missing are more visionaries. Right now,thetre is one one and he is CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges is a passionate racing man who gets it and sees beyond the obvious. He is also constantly pushing the envelope and it shows in the turnover and attendance of Hong Kong racing. More races and racing is not the answer if it’s making you go broke. No, what is needed is passion for the sport combined with a business acumen.
It’s not unlike what Simon Fuller has done for the entertainment industry. From managing the Spice Girls, he went on to creating and owning the franchises for the shows “Pop Idol”, “American Idol”, “So You Think You Can Dance” to managing the careers of David and Victoria Beckham, Lewis Hamilton and Andy Murray. And now, he looks set to purchase a chunk of EMI Music and change the music world on its head.
In This Photo: Andy Murray, Judy Murray, Simon Fuller, Daniel Vallverdu, Jez Green, Andy Ireland, Danny Lopez
Know what? The day when Simon Fuller and Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges sit down and map out a plan for how the worlds of horse racing and entertainment and good business come together is not that far away. Wanna bet?
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