Executives from across the wide spectrum of Irish racecourses gathered in Portlaoise yesterday and today for a marketing support summit hosted by Horse Racing Ireland.
Sport for Business delivered an afternoon session covering the changing nature of the sponsorship market and giving practical advice on how to frame an approach to potential partners at every level.
We highlighted a number of case studies ranging from one off single race sponsorships through to different forms of partnership that might appeal to corporate partners, all the way up to the deal signed recently between Greenall’s Gin to become the official Gin partner of British racing and investing £3 million over three years for the right to be so.
There was a positive mood in the room, enhanced by news from Leopardstown that the crowd at Sunday’s BHP Insurance Irish Champion Hurdle was up by nearly 1,000 on last year’s figure and that sponsorship income in 2014 had risen in overall terms across the sport by 6.3%.
Social media specialist Krishna De delivered the morning session on how racecourses could keep up to the dizzying changes in the ways in which consumers were communicating and absorbing messages while today’s session will focus on broadcasting, publicity, tourism and market research.
Image Credit: @NaasRacecouse via Twitter
