Also in this report:
* Agencies get closer to clients, each other: Video conferencing, Internet, Intranets and Extranets are among the tools being used to bridge the communications gap p.18
* Drumming up Extranet business p.18
* Valu-net banks on virtual mall: Company positioned as one-stop shop for all the needs of prospective on-line retailers p.23
* Salesforce automation requires careful planning p.25
Can an old sport find a new audience by tapping the latest technology? The Ontario Jockey Club (ojc) certainly intends to find out.
The ojc has recently galloped onto the information highway, with the introduction of its multimedia HorsePlayer Interactive service.
Launched in May, HorsePlayer Interactive represents a bid to draw a younger, technology-savvy crowd to horse racing, a sport stuck with an old and rather staid image.
‘We want to attract a wider audience, because horse racing has under-marketed itself in the last 20 years,’ says Andrew Gaughan, director of business development for the Toronto-based ojc.
The service allows racing fans to enjoy the track and most of its amenities from the comfort of their homes.
On the HorsePlayer Interactive Web site (www.675bets.com), subscribers can get odds and results, and access real-time audio and video race coverage. The video streaming section of the site already attracts more than 500 users a day.
Other site highlights include schedules, profiles of owners, breeders and horses, and a customer service section where neophytes can learn the fine art of racetrack betting.
The HorsePlayer interactive service also allows subscribers to place bets via touch-tone phone. Those with a Bell Vista 350 screenphone can even see bets, as well as odds and results, on the phone’s lcd display.
To use the telephone wagering service, fans can contact the ojc, either by phone or through the Web site, to set up an account. There is no initial service or start-up fee. Users must provide proof they are over the legal age of 18.
The other major component of the service is in-home viewing. Subscribers fortunate enough to own a flat-plate antenna and a set-top decoder box can pick up the ojc’s wireless digital television transmission, which features live race coverage, plus odds and results.
Gaughan says the ojc is the first organization of its kind ‘to package all of these technologies and market it as a complete service.’ The idea was born last fall, after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission denied a bid for a horse racing specialty tv service. A consortium of Ontario racetrack interests led by the ojc was one of the backers of that application.
No major marketing initiatives to promote HorsePlayer Interactive are planned until next year. Current efforts include promotional activities at horse shows and industry functions, which are aimed at raising awareness of the service.
Gaughan says the HorsePlayer Interactive Web site already has a global following, attracting visitors from some 30 different countries, including Sweden.
While the ojc is putting a serious push behind the virtual horse racing experience, Gaughan says this can never replace the thrill of actually going to the track. In fact, the ojc is hoping the service will bring bigger crowds out to the races, by introducing the excitement of the sport to people who might not otherwise take an interest.
