The National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) Midsummer Classic was run off on Emancipation Day (August 1). While the race itself was memorable for the performance of the winner, Sam's Hero, there was another noteworthy, if inauspicious, aspect to the event. This was the very late announcement of the sponsor for the event, the NLCB. The reason given by the Arima Race Club (ARC) was the change of government and the absence of a new board of directors at the NLCB but that development again raises the question of what is being done to attract sponsors (old and new) to the sport. No sport can survive without sponsors and racing in T&T has witnessed a gradual erosion in the sponsorship from corporate T&T. When one considers that many of the leading owners in this country are involved in some of the largest corporations in T&T–why is this so?
Companies involved include the likes of Carib Brewery, Ceramic Trinidad Limited, Guardian Life of the Caribbean, Republic Bank Limited, the Neal and Massy Group of Companies, Associated Brands Limited, Universal Foods Ltd, RBTT, First Citizens, Toyota T&T Ltd, the Unit Trust Corporation, Pricewaterhousecoopers, WH Scott Group of Companies, RIK Bookstores Ltd, Ernst &Young, the Dachin Group of Companies (Movietowne, Ruby Tuesday, etc), Albrosco Group, Southern Wholesale Stores, the Junior Sammy Group of Companies, the Ahamad Group of Companies (Southern Sales, etc), Sacha Cosmetics, Par Excellence Group and several Legal Luminaries, which have well established Law firms, Blue Water Group etc , Maraj Jewelers, various media houses in T&T. How could it be that with senior executives and owners from all of these corporate entities involved in the sport, horseracing continues to face difficulty in securing sponsorship for its activities?
To explore this matter, we need to understand clearly why any sponsor (corporate or otherwise) gets involved in a particular activity. According to www.sponsorship.com: Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically in sports, arts, entertainment or causes) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property.
For example, a corporate entity may provide equipment for a famous athlete or sports team in exchange for brand recognition. The sponsor earns popularity this way while the sponsored can earn a lot of money. Other reasons for sponsorship include signage at sporting events, local or national media coverage, promotional opportunities before and after the event, and the chance to entertain clients and prospective customers by inviting them as VIPs to sponsored events. Other benefits of sponsorship can include access to on-site hospitality tents or skyboxes; the opportunity to meet athletes or teams in person, and possibly even the opportunity for sponsors and their VIP guests to participate in a pro-am type event. Another benefit is the ability to reach a specific demographic or target market.
Why is it that Barbados, an island which, economically speaking, is more challenged than T&T is able to have little difficulty in finding sponsors for its races while T&T has so many challenges? Recent Barbados' race days have been sponsored by the likes of the United Insurance Company, Hallway Feeds, Ocala Breeders' Sale, and Caribbean Money Market Brokers.
The sponsorship from the Ocala Breeders Association is particularly interesting because T&T owners purchase as many horses if not more horses at the annual Ocala Sales as Barbadian owners, yet it is not clear whether those responsible for sales and marketing of the sport in T&T have ever approached that association for sponsorship of a day of local racing.
If they have done so, and without success, maybe they can ask the Barbadians for some advice. Something therefore seems to be lacking in this area and many times, the decision on sponsorship is based on personality and it may be that there are those at the ARC, who are not people persons and sponsors shy away from them, even if the product is good. Being a good manager or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) means that you need to sell your business to others and therefore you have to be compassionate and at least appear sincere. That is a requirement that the current ARC management committee have a problem in convincing others, they have in any fair abundance. I have highlighted "exploitable commercial potential" because this is where the sport in this country is failing to excite potential sponsors.
There is no clearly exploitable commercial potential in local horseracing. The question that needs to be addressed is why is this so? The answer is that those responsible for promotion of the sport have failed to do enough to identify that potential for sponsors. The ARC and the T&T Racing Authority (TTRA) own a database of members and racehorse owners, many of whom can be potential customers/clients for various business groups in this country. Has either ever analysed their members' databases to determine to whom this would be a viable target group? And in case they have, and that information been relayed to the management committee, what have they done about it. I will always draw reference to � Christopher Armond–from Jamaica, who was a man of action and talk, he would travel many a distance and mile to get things done. It is true that he knew more about the sport of horseracing than most in the region and had an ebullient character to go with his overall demeanour and personality that appealed to most if not all.
The point is, he found a way to get things done and never accepted "No".
That is a professional trait; I follow as most of you know which has made it easier to get information and to gain the trust of all of the sporting people in not only T&T, but also the region. ARC itself continues to be mired in an old fashioned way of doing business. There has been little progress in the development of the sport since new management was put in place a few years ago, yet the management has not been held to account for its failings. ARC needs to re-invent itself. It needs to explore new ways of doing business to make racing more attractive to sponsors. Sponsors will be willing to become more involved if horseracing can be seen to be attractive to more than just a hardcore group of followers. A visit to the race track on any average race days reveals that those present at the sport, for the most part, would not fall into the typical demographic that is attractive to sponsors. ARC must do something about this. They must aim to make horseracing more of a family entertainment so that the sport can begin to become more attractive to sponsors interested in such a demographic.
ARC can begin by creating a new membership class with incentives such as discounts at participating merchants, possibly by forming alliances with corporations through executives who are active in the sport of horseracing. It again leads to the question of desire and will to succeed. ARC must also begin to use different channels to attract patronage, this is the modern age of technology, why not invest in some young, creative, gadget crazy individuals from all sectors of society. Electronic channels such as direct email, Facebook, Twitter, etc must be used more extensively to attract new members. I have said this before but the horseracing channel must become free to air (even if only on a local racing day) so that the average individual at home on a Saturday can accidentally browse the channel and if a race is taking place, linger long enough to watch the race and hopefully become a bit more interested thereafter.
At the moment, horseracing is becoming a bit incestuous with only the descendants of those already interested in the sport having the opportunity to become interested. This needs to change and it can only change if access to the sport is a bit more freely available, some negotiations with other channels to bring the racing live on TV and on more popular radio stations (based on appeal and market facts) will also assist. In the final analysis, horseracing must display an exploitable commercial potential if sponsors are to be re-attracted to the sport. However, for this to occur there must be trust between all the relevant parties involved. That continues to be the greatest bugbear to improvement.