At Sky Bet we have just celebrated our 13th annual sponsorship of the Go Racing in Yorkshire Awards.
When I joined Sky Bet 14 and a half years ago, it was the first sponsorship we got involved in.
As a small company back then, we felt we should support racing in Yorkshire because that’s where we are based.
And 13 years on, having gone from 30 people on the staff to 1,100, we are one of Yorkshire’s biggest digital companies.
The Go Racing in Yorkshire Awards are a particular highlight for me because I just love my racing.
And that love was fuelled when I played football for Huddersfield Town.
That’s because the Town Gentlemen’s Club bought a horse back in 1984 – called A Gentleman – and I was persuaded by my dear friend Bill Boothroyd (who we sadly lost a few years ago) to take a share.
The horse never ran because it got injured, but the involvement fired by enthusiasm for the sport and I’ve been hooked ever since.
We are so fortunate in Yorkshire to have nine fantastic courses and some of the best racing in the country.
This week, Sky Bet CEO Richard Flint gave the response on behalf of racing at the Gimcrack Dinner.
He highlighted the demographic challenge racing is facing with attracting young customers.
With Sky Bet, for instance, our customers who are under 30 years of age are 17 times more likely to bet on football than they are on racing.
Attendances at Yorkshire race meetings are fantastic, but a big part of the sport is funded by the partnership with bookmakers and as the younger generation prefer to bet on football, it’s a major challenge the sport faces to attract more to racing.
We work closely with the partners we sponsor and the Yorkshire courses, particularly York, who are simply the best racecourse in the country.
And it’s these sponsorships we are keen to embrace if racing is going to thrive and be financially well supported.
The new Levy replacement is just around the corner, and as racing is almost a ‘zero margin’ sport for bookmakers because of all the existing costs, it’s to be hoped a sensible level is set so the sport can continue to grow and customers can be encouraged to enjoy their racing.
