A FEW weeks from now Horse Racing Ireland will reveal key industry statistics for the first half of 2022 and they will show a drop in racecourse attendances compared with the same period in 2019.

Addressing an all-party Oireachtas Committee this week, HRI chief executive Suzanne Eade said: “When we launched our Strategic Plan [in March 2020] we were aiming for [annual attendance of] 1.5 million. Racecourses had a tough two years with Covid but people stayed engaged [with racing]. This year we had strong spring festivals but I would say, overall, we are not back to 2019 levels.

“There is huge consumption of our product, in terms of streaming, but people are not getting off the sofa and that is a priority for HRI’s marketing team. We have to create events that make people want to come back. I expect good numbers in the coming weeks and Galway will be the litmus test.”

New campaign

HRI’s new advertising campaign ‘Proper Day Out’ launches this weekend and follows on from the 2020 ‘On Your Terms’ campaign. The campaign objective is to encourage 18 to 35-year-olds to consider racing as a social day out with friends and the creative concept for the campaign grew from a number of core findings identified in national research conducted by Red C Research.

The campaign, which reflects the atmosphere and the socialising aspect at a race meeting, will be led by television and broadcast video on demand (VOD) with special spot buys into programmes appropriate for this target audience. In addition, the campaign will also include youth-targeted radio, digital audio, Spotify and podcast advertising. This will be supported with an ‘always on’ social campaign, programmatic display and search advertising.

The Red C research identified 18 to 34-year-olds as a specific target as they are more likely to trial racing or increase the number of times they come racing than their older counterparts. This audience are currently open to the idea of racing but need a reason to attend and reconnect with the sport. Research also recognised a pent-up demand among this group for sporting and social events, and new experiences after living with Covid restrictions for nearly two years.

Eade commented: “We are excited to launch this new ad campaign which demonstrates the social aspect and excitement a day at the races offers. Horse racing fits the bill perfectly for the 18-34 age group, identified in the research, who are looking to reconnect with racing or those who are keen to attend a new sporting and social experience.

“The Red C research tells us that interest in the sport among the Irish population has increased from 23% to 44% in the past two years, which we want to capitalise on. We hope this new targeted campaign will help us achieve our key objectives to grow engagement and increase interest levels in racing to maximise attendances at the 26 racecourses in Ireland.”