After a summer of blistering sunshine it was a shame that Plate Day at the Galway Races was subject to lashing rain that will have impacted on attendance but hardly at all on the spirits of those that were there.
Galway is one of the annual high points of the racing year and the sport is bouncing back after a number of lean years. Figures for the first six months of 2013 published this month reveal year-on-year increases in racecourse attendances, prize-money, sponsorship, entries, runners and Tote turnover.
Today’s meeting is sponsored entirely by Guinness and winning owners will walk away with over €250,000 in prize money, more than €150,000 of that in the hands of the winner of the Guinness Galway Hurdle.
Even that though will pale alongside the money wagered on the races at the track, in the countries 1,000 betting shops and via the increasingly dominant online and mobile channels.
Paddy Power increased worldwide turnover last year by 25% to a level of €5.6 Billion, most of it coming from the UK and Australia but with growth as well in the Irish marketplace. The company is a genuine world leader ranking in the top half dozen of global betting brands and with 1.6 million active customers placing bets on many thousands of markets.
Galway, and the Glorious Goodwood Festival in England which also takes place this week pushes horse racing to the fore but on a global scale they will be eclipsed by soccer as the major leagues move into gear over the coming weeks.
Research on betting habits in the UK in recent years show horse racing hanging onto its dominant position among older customers but the gap shrinking dramatically between it and other sports as the age profile reduces.
A 25 year old bettor, even in Ireland, is more likely to be betting on Manchester United or Bernard Brogan to score first at Croke Park on Saturday than on Ted Veale landing the favourites odds in today’s big race.
The trend is being driven by the heavy volume of live coverage, via television and online, of soccer from around the world.
There are seven races from Galway today with an opportunity to back horses to win, to be placed or in a number of finishing places as combination bets.
On Paddy Power’s site this morning the main live soccer market is the game between Wuhan Jiangda Ladies and Beijing Zhaotai Ladies. There are 50 markets to be played on and within seconds of Beijing taking an early lead, all the odds were updated and the next market became ‘who will score the second goal?’
On a Thursday in the off season you might be surprised to know that Powers lists 55 soccer matches that will be covered live today, from China and India to the Europa League. On Saturday that will extend to many hundreds.
There are also 98 tennis matches that will have markets updated in real time from 22 tournaments around the world, few of which will ever have been heard of by those attending the races at Galway.
Betting supports an estimated 6,000 jobs in Ireland, 2,000 of them with Paddy Power and many more with Boylesports and Ladbrokes.
The regulatory regime here, as well as a trained workforce has also made Ireland popular as a venue for start up companies looking to break into a global betting market worth an estimated €300 Billion per annum. Bragbet and Betbright are two who alongside Paddy Power are members of Sport for Business.
It is a market that was transformed by the arrival of the internet and is being so again by the transition towards mobile.
The Government has recognised the dramatic changes and published the heads of a new Gambling Control Bill last month that will update laws originally written in the 1950’s.
Social responsibility, and taxation, are central to the changes though neither will be uppermost in the minds of those who wager their money at Galway this afternoon, or indeed on the women of China in their epic soccer encounter in Wuhan.
Horseracing Ireland, the Irish Greyhound Board, the FAI, Paddy Power, Betbrag and Betbright are all full members of the Sport for Business Community Discover the benefits of joining them today.
Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park (September 19th)
Sport for Business 20/20 at Ulster Bank HQ (October 8th)
The Business of Youth Sport Seminar (November 28th)
