In his column today, Zak Walker gives his views on the lack of promotion going on at the majority of UK tracks. He singles out Romford as an example of how it can be done well and holds nothing back when it comes to giving his views about the lack of promotion at Towcester.
Personally, I think there are a LOT of things that need to change in our sport, but today I am going to focus on just one thing: promotion, or rather, the lack of promotion by most UK tracks.
The promotion of our Sport is shocking compared to what it used to be, even just five years ago.
Tracks before would be promoting to get people through the doors for a night out at ‘The Dogs’. You’d have your meal, drinks and a bet, this being alone, with friends or even with your family.
In the present day, it pains me to say, it is so far from this.
Some tracks hardly promote their track or racing at ALL. They appear to be purely going off the basis of the dogs are racing, and that’s enough for people to watch on a betting app at home.
At the end of the day, the track is still being paid, so why make an effort to bring people through the doors? That will make them have to employ staff and create more hassle than it’s worth.
It is sad to see, but this is the way the sport is going. Fewer people want to visit tracks, and tracks don’t seem to want spectators. So who do you blame?
There are a select few tracks in the UK wanting people attending, and I must say, they are doing fantastic.
Take ROMFORD for example, every single Friday & Saturday evening, without fail, they will have a packed venue. Why is this? Yes, they have a good location close to London, but they also promote their track and racing like no other track in the UK! They post daily on X about the up and coming races. They show clips of dogs racing and dogs getting ready to race. These small things really do help to not only promote their track, but also the sport itself. Hove, Monmore, and Crayford also do a pretty good job, there’s even talk of an upcoming podcast at Monmore. Oxford’s socials were brilliant last year, when Shaun Reynolds was a leading light.
In contrast, let’s look at Towcester, our English Derby track. You would think, being the venue for the feature race in our calendar, that they would have the best Promotion, facilities and volume of people attending. This is unfortunately not correct. Towcester do not promote going to the dogs. They do not promote ownership. They do not promote anything to do with our sport – other than when the Derby is coming up (once a year for a month).
So, what needs to change you ask?
Tracks need to realise that Promotion on Social Media is FREE. It does not take a lot to do small promotional posts, I will give examples:
- Videos of Dogs walking to the traps
- Photos or videos of Dogs racing
- Talking about being an owner or how to get involved
- Showing your facilities and what you offer
These are just 4 simple FREE things promoters can do, that I believe will bring eyes to the track.