Leon Blanche has begun his new role in the new position of Chief Commercial Officer at Greyhound Racing Ireland.
Blanche was announced as moving to the role in the latter part of 2022, bringing the curtain down on a 17-year career with Boylesports as Head of Communications and Sponsorship.
Sponsorship Manager Eimhear Breen also exited the brand before Christmas and has begun a similar role in Leeds at the HQ of SkyBet.
Blanche’s move is a major plus for Greyhound Racing Ireland as they continue to rebuild in the post-Covid world of sport, hospitality and entertainment. His role will include responsibility for communications, marketing, sponsorship and hospitality where he will be working alongside Head of Marketing Orla Strumble, Dawn Quinn and others.
Brian MacNeice of Teneo was appointed as a non-executive director of the organisation in 2019.
Boylesports has been a long-term chief commercial partner of the sport lending its name to the Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby for a decade by the time it comes up for its next renewal after the 2023 running of the race next September.
Dearbhla O’Brien stepped down as CEO of the sport’s governing body in September and interim CEO John Tuohey represented it alongside Chair Frank Nyhan in November.
Greyhound Racing Ireland operates eight of the 14 stadia at which racing takes place and the sport has maintained a strong rural support base, as well as being seen as a great night out, a major fundraising platform and a tourism destination in the main urban centres.
In its latest annual report, the organisation showed revenues of €7.1 million from tote betting, €1.9 million from media rights and €19.2 million from the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund.
An independent report from economist Jim Power estimated that the sport made a net contribution to the Irish economy of €132.3 million in 2019 and that it supported 4,150 full and part-time jobs.
Sport for Business Perspective:
Greyhound Racing has worked hard to rehabilitate its reputation after a number of welfare stories gained traction before Covid and has done well to introduce new standards, codes of practice, and welfare initiatives to stay on the right side of that debate. Attracting Blanche from a long-term role with Boylesports is a strong positive indicator after a year of change since the departure of Gerard Dollard as CEO in 2021.
