Don't waste it on the young

George Bernard Shaw once observed that youth is wasted on the young. And youth isn’t all.

At the University of Arizona’s Annual Symposium on Racing and Gaming, if I can judge from the accounts I’ve read, most of one session and more than a little thought were wasted on the young, particularly on marketing horse racing to Generation Y, as youngsters of all ages are called these days. This concern for the young, I’ve often found, is almost always the brainchild of a marketing firm or advertising agency that hopes to get rich by creating some achingly flashy and nauseatingly hip campaign calculated to appeal to people who habitually wear sneakers, t-shirts and jeans and who can’t utter a sentence that doesn’t include “like,” “really,” or “butt.”

But horse racing shouldn’t be concerned – not very concerned, anyway – for one very good reason: 16-year-olds can’t bet.

Moments after the last race, Miranda Lambert stepped onto the stage in front of the racetrack. Her hair wildly disarranged, she looked like she had dressed in the dark after sleeping only a few hours. Still up in the press box, trying to finish my work, I was curious, and so I listened to one song, which was enough for me to conclude that a first impression would suffice. And then I hurriedly left the racetrack, noticing along the way that many in this crowd were teenagers, some of them standing about awkwardly, as though unsure where to go, and others milling about with a self-conscious cool that wouldn't permit them to ask, "Where's the stage?"

Is this the young audience horse racing wants to attract? They were too young to bet. And those who might have been old enough were saving what little cash they had for other plans.

And what did all these concert goers do for the day’s handle, I wondered as I weaved through the parking lot to my car. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. A Vic Damone concert would have been better.

This fascination with Generation Y reminds me of some of the mistakes newspapers have made over the last 10 years. Not all newspapers, of course, but several. To appeal to a group that’s simply not inclined to buy their product, these newspapers for years dumbed down and jazzed up. They added graphics, even allowed graphics to crowd out stories; they encouraged columnists not to write so much as to scream and whine, like adolescents – all in an effort to appeal to a younger audience. The result was that newspapers lost some of their traditional audience, the generally educated reader, while trying, but failing, to reach younger readers.

I sometimes fear horse racing is doing the same, that it’s neglecting its traditional audience in a failing effort to reach a group that’s not very receptive, at least not for the moment. Last summer, I got a phone call from a woman in a retirement home, a lovely lady, if I can tell from our conversation. Years ago, she said, every weekend she and her late husband would go to the races, whether to Louisiana Downs or Oaklawn Park. She still loved horse racing, she said, but was no longer able to follow the sport as closely as she would like, no longer able to drive herself out to the racetrack, and she didn’t want to go to the track alone.

Anyway, it occurred to me that horse racing would probably be wiser making it easier for the lovely lady, and the many people like her, to get out to the races than trying to attract Generation Y. I’m not implying the sport’s fans all reside in a retirement home, and I’m certainly not suggesting the sport can neglect modern technology or turn its back on innovation.

I’m simply saying that horse racing should know and serve its audience, which is generally an older group than you’re going to find attending a rock concert or playing Frisbee football. And that’s OK because this also happens to be a group that tends to have much more time and much more money than the members of the ever popular Generation Y. It’s also OK because some of these older horse racing fans will probably invite their children to the racetrack. And isn’t that, after all, how most people are introduced to the sport, by a parent rather than Miranda Lambert?

Comments

[PTP]

Very nice post. The market who is already prequalified to enjoy the sport are the easiest to go after. There is no reason not to have a strategy for older bettors and fans who enjoy the live racing experience.

[rd]

As long as the concerts make money thru concession sales, it is a win for the racetrack. I agree they don't attract new racing fans, but at least it is some exposure and a revenue stream. Keeneland is a great example of a track that makes racing cool for 20 somethings. Turfway is having success pushing, "the cheapiest date in town." Find promotions for young people that are directly tied to the racing. Our Friday's in the Sky at Louisiana Downs did well because it was part of a local, late-week happy hour series (Bar hopping) schedule. The same crowd did Horseshoe's Rooftop on Thurs and LaD on Friday. We had music, food, drink specials....But paused for each race, which involved very interactive games for each race. It is a tough sell, but to have any chance of making new fans, you have to find a fun way to force feed some racing. Or, you are just another concert venue.

[Wilbur Marshall]

This is by far the worst post on what ails horse racing that i have ever read.

[kyle]

Hey Gary,
I happen to think we can appeal to a younger audience and desperately need to, but not by pandering or dumbing the game down and certainly not disguising it. Racing needs to quit running away from what it is - the world's greatest gambling game wrapped in a terrific spectacle with a veil of danger. Racing is hip. It doesn't need to remake its essential self to be so.

[Robby Collins]

After reading this piece I think the sport could use some younger writers!