Expanding the Breeders Cup Through Reach

In-running International betting at Befair - Juvy Filly Turf (near the three quarters)

The handle numbers are in from this years Breeders Cup and they are good. Some would say very good. Over $150M was wagered on the two days in the pari-mutuel pools, with a couple of interesting notes. To come are the pari-mutuel numbers from several countries which will up that number. Also, the scratch at the gate of Quality Road in the Classic and lack of a delay to allow punters to rewager cost handle about $2.1M.

Not added of course is the exchange wagering at Betfair, where bettors traded almost $US25M.

In past years the Breeders Cup has been an international event, but maybe solely in name. There was very little outreach to all corners of the globe to build the brand, and to increase wagering. Modern technology, and a push from the BC itself has changed all that. Racing is finally taking advatange of worldwide horse racing fans by offering them their product. Domestically the BC has allowed virtually everyone the signal and has not practiced any protection at all.

The big news was allowing betting giant Betfair’s customers to wager on the event from their interface. Wagering from this form was up, as punters there could get access to all information and the video signal. They have 2 million plus customers, and although many of them bet this before through alternate bookmaker accounts, adding the Tote to the interface afforded them the chance to play the races easily in their betfair accounts.

So far international separate pool handle was up $3M – a significant sum of money. Hong Kong bet almost $3M. Mexico in a separate pool bet $1.4M. Singapore, for the very first time, chipped in with $156k.

What does this hold for the future of this event? It is said to take at least a half a decade to rebrand an event. This is really the first year we have seen this vision for the BC, and it is a good start. With new technology, new partnerships and new ways to bet, the Breeders Cup seems to believe that this market was underrepresented in years past and they are looking to rectify that.

For many years racing was insular, filled with more infighting than vision. During this time the industry seemingly believed that if a race is put on, people will find a way to bet it and left it at that. During the 60′s or 70′s or even 1980′s that might have been the case, but with increased competition, the internet and everything else that is not the case any longer. The business must work, and work very hard to gain new customers, as well as serving the old ones.

Technology, exchange wagering, offering signals out to who wants them, promoting a good international betting product and the world’s stars on stage seems to have been this years elixir. And the returns seem to say it was a winning one.