SIMON NOTT: People Attract People
Back in my younger days I was living a parallel life, music and racing.
By day I’d be off travelling the turf with bookmakers. By night, I was active in the very lowest level of music and promotion. I used to book bands into the White Ball Inn’s back bar, you’d take a chance on the band’s fee and anything on top through the £1.50’s you took on the door you copped.
That was a good deal as by the time I got to do it there was already a guaranteed crowd of about 100 people so really wasn’t much of a gamble. More of one was a chap who hit on the idea of renting a football clubhouse once a week to open a pop-up nightclub. It appeared to be a great idea, this was Tiverton, a small town in Devon and a town that didn’t have a mainstream club.
The problem was, nobody was going to it. It was weird, everyone knew the place and where it was, there was very little else to do but they still didn’t go. To make things worse, the people that did go, didn’t enjoy being on their own, they told others it was rubbish so the rot set in. Robin, the guy who was trying to get it off the ground, decided to print up a load of flyers offering cheap drinks. Still nobody went, after all, the best pub in the world is crap if it’s just you in it.
He wasn’t the sort of chap to give up so had a bit of a think, the problem was the venue, it was a place that most people had never been in, so daunting for a first visit and out of their comfort zone. The other thing was, people didn’t want to walk or get a taxi to the outskirts of town to then risk the price of getting in, only to find it was rubbish.
The answer wasn’t to offer free drinks or put the prices up for the few that were going, but to get people into the habit of going. He decided to start a campaign. There were flyers, adverts, posters, advertising a place that had been open to a spluttering start for a while as a brand new opening club. Further more, it was free to get in. Robin’s advertising got a real buzz going around town, people started to talk about it, the youth of Tiverton made their plans and when the night came, descended upon the place. It was packed, great fun was had by all and the ball was rolling. From that night on ‘Eagles Nightclub’ was the place to go and Robin had the money rolling in.
There’s a lot of similarities in many aspects of the entertainment industry, including the racing game. I was very lucky to attend The Curragh for their Guineas meeting. The racing was top class, the racecourse management and staff incredibly welcoming and the facilities brand new. The trouble was there was very little atmosphere because attendance was poor. No matter how good the entertainment anywhere, it’s the people that make it. I’m sure they’ll work out why people aren’t attending and they’ll soon be thronging in.
One of the problems The Curragh has is that it’s not on anyone’s doorstep which makes their challenge a little more difficult. Closer to home we have no such logistical problems. The paradox is the courses that do take effort to get to appear to be well-attended. It’s the courses that race regularly and are in the catchment area of big cities with ample public transport that lack the crowds. These are likely to be those that host lower class racing most of the year but are built to host their one big meeting of the year. The perplexing thing is that in stark contrast to the rest of the entertainment industry, they appear to accept that as an excuse rather than a challenge to get people to their venues.
What those of us in the racing bubble don’t realise is that to the general population horseracing is a mystery, it only comes into their lives on Grand National day. They would no be nor more likely to go racing, even if it was on their doorstep than you or I would be to poke your head into a Masonic Lodge.
Do the courses that appear quite happy to close areas and bars at ‘off meetings’ when they assume attendance will be low ever try and engage those people that live on their doorstep? Would a Robin style campaign welcoming local people to the course work? If there are very few people attending run of the mill meetings anyway, it’s a no lose situation and not much of a gamble to invite local people and beyond in for nothing. Once in, could they not be welcomed by race-makers, the tote booths, bars and food outlets ready to service them. Even more, maybe the racecourse bookies would join in handing out free bets and how to bet with them leaflets.
We all know that lower grade racing can be just as exciting as the top class stuff and no offence meant, people new to racegoing aren’t going to know the difference. I can honestly say that I have never taken anyone racing that hasn’t come away not having really enjoyed the day. That said, I’ve never taken them to a mid-winter all-weather meeting, but people do attract people, we can but try, but does anyone try? That’s the really frustrating bit.
As a footnote, Robin also had a club in town which catered for the earthier crowd. I stuck my neck out and booked a psychobilly band with a dubious reputation to play there. We got no coverage in the local music pages for it. Nobody was in the position to just close so it was desperate measures time so resorted to putting flyers all round town claiming to be from an outraged church group, ended up on the front page on the local daily and a packed gig, too much for racing? Maybe, having said that, gambling’s getting such a bad rap at the moment it might just work…
SIMON NOTT
Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.
Simon Nott is author of: Skint Mob! Tales from the Betting Ring
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