Can Football Clubs Generate Revenue From Horse Racing?
Football has many links with horse racing and a number of high profile players, ex-players and managers have embraced the sport as race horse owners or as racehorse trainers. It is fair to say that football has given to horse racing for many years, can horse racing give back?
The second love of the football family?
Those who play, watch and support football thrive on the highs and lows of the sport and form deep connections to their clubs and team icons.
Fans and players swing from ecstatic celebration to crushing defeat and back again. It’s all about the pre-match build-up, the 90 minutes, the finger-biting final minutes and the knowledge that the under-dog always has a chance of a victory when the ball is on the centre-spot for kick-off.
At that moment, the fans and players stand together and know, that anything can happen. These are all emotions that can are mirrored in horse racing, when the horses line up at the start of a race there is always a favourite but every horse has their chance and their followers. There is an opportunity for football clubs to offer this to their fans and generate a new revenue stream.
How could Horse Racing provide a revenue stream?
By launching a branded Racing Club, fans will have the opportunity to become a race owner and become involved in a sport that is loved by so many within the football world, as well as having a further connection to their football club.
Arsenal and England legend, Ian Wright holds a share in five-time winning racehorse Born To Finish, owned by Crowd Racing, a leading racehorse syndication company. “It’s my first go at ownership,” Wright says, “I’m in the group with people and it’s really nice when you’re with everybody; they’re all so excited about it because all have a little piece of him. It’s been such good fun.”
Crowd Racing, the company who run the syndicate Ian Wright is part of, offer a bespoke management service that enables football clubs to take advantage of this new revenue stream without any additional administrative burden. By working with Crowd Racing, football clubs can access a valuable, annual revenue stream and enjoy all the benefits that come with having a Racing Club.
Benefits beyond revenue?
Football and horse racing will always continue to attract and share new fans and it makes so much sense for football clubs to embrace this and take advantage of the revenue potential and additional benefits. Increase in direct revenue is vital to football clubs outside of the Premier League, and this concept certainly delivers that and more.
By having a Racing Club, the football club can also benefit from events, race days, gift opportunities, sponsorship opportunities, access to new and old fans alike, out of season engagement, increased value for season ticket holders and a new corporate audience as well as a new angle for existing corporate customers. This all will tie back into increasing fan engagement and ultimately a revenue upside.
Crowd Racing can manage the whole process. Registering the Racing Club, developing the structure and cost levels to suit individual teams, sourcing the racehorses and trainers, co-ordinating the events and communication and delivering all the administration and ongoing management to make sure the club is a success. After all, if top names in football are flocking to horse racing, then perhaps it’s a sport that’s worth exploring and a Race Club could be just what your Football Club needs.
To find out more about this superb opportunity, contact: Craig Mckenna, CEO on craig.mckenna@crowdracing.co.uk or visit: www.crowdracing.co.uk
