Posts Tagged ‘super bowl’

Jennie Rees of the Courier-Journal makes the case to bring Drew Brees, Super Bowl Champion and MVP for the New Orleans Saints, to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby. She rightly states that he would be a perfect grand marshall for the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Pegasus Parade and smart addition for the Barnstable Brown party.

Owning a piece of racehorse Daddy Forty Niner, Brees has proven himself a fan of the sport and would make headlines across the country for being so heavily involved in racing’s biggest day. It’s a strong play and the type of pop culture melding our industry desperately needs.

Read it at the Courier-Journal

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

While he joined the long line of NFL stars who have followed a Super Bowl victory with the iconic phrase "I’m going to Disney World", it appears the Saints quarterback may have plans on the First Saturday in May. That is if all breaks well.

Brees is part of an ownership group that also includes Jimmy Buffett and several members of the Monday Night Football crew who own gelding Daddy Forty Nine. The 3-year-old could run in the Louisiana Derby. While he has won three starts, the son of Ghostzapper finished a disappointing fourth in a recent Monday race at the Fairgrounds.

Is it possible? Absolutely. But probable? We’re a little less optimistic about that. But what great publicity it would be for such a high profile star coming off a Super Bowl victory to be involved in racing’s biggest day.

Read it at the Indianapolis Star

Then come back to the Paulick Report and let us know what you think

- Bradford Cummings

Do you know an individual or organization who you think we should consider for an upcoming “Good News Friday” feature? Then please e-mail info@paulickreport.com with the name of the individual or organization and a brief description of why you think they should be featured. Additionally, we’d like to thank Rob Whiteley and Liberation Farm for encouraging us to bring to light some of the industry’s positive stories and for sponsoring this exclusive Paulick Report feature.

By Bradford Cummings
Oftentimes, the racing industry loses sight of what is important when trying to market its product. Talk of increased handle, while necessary for the bottom line of racetracks, does not change the public perception and momentum of a sport that has continued a slow and steady slide over the last 20 years. In order to grow this sport, racing needs new fans, not old fans making more bets.
 
So when the ratings came out for the Kentucky Derby and most recently the Preakness Stakes, it was a breath of fresh air and a much-needed shot in the arm for the psyche of racing. The first two legs of the Triple Crown brought in an average of 13.4 million viewers, the most since 1989 when Sunday Silence won both Classics over Easy Goer in a spirited East vs. West rivalry.
 
Individually, the Kentucky Derby brought in 16.3 million viewers with a 9.8 rating and 23 share, up 2.1 million viewers from last year. The Preakness came in at a strong 10.9 million viewers, pulling a 6.8 rating and 16 share. This number was up 3 million viewers from last year’s version with Big Brown easily pulling away from the field.
 
For those not familiar with the television ratings system, the Derby’s 9.8 rating means that 9.8% of all households with televisions were tuned into NBC’s telecast on the first Saturday of May while the 23 share means 23% of all televisions in use watched Mine That Bird pull an unprecedented upset. That means nearly a quarter of all Americans watching television showed an interest in racing’s biggest event.
 
Perhaps most significant was the true lack of a compelling storyline going into the race. Most of the favorites had been sidelined before the Derby, and morning line favorite I Want Revenge was scratched the morning of the race with an injury, leaving what has been proved to be an overrated colt from the Louisiana circuit in Friesan Fire as the betting choice. And while other sports have the ability to build audience throughout the course of a 3 hour game, the fact that a 50-1 shot won the race would have had virtually no effect on the ratings because of how quickly the telecast ends.
 
Much credit must go to NBC, which did an admirable job selling the event throughout the week prior with promos on mainstream mainstays like the Today Show and investing in a solid marketing campaign. The fact a long shot won only added to the mystique of the Derby they so effectively sold.
 
That momentum allowed for the male vs. female storyline to be created with Rachel Alexandra and the unintended positive consequences of media coverage from Mark Allen and Ahmed Zayat’s conspiring to keep her on the sidelines. Proving the old adage there’s no such thing as bad press, the Preakness well out performed every other running this decade except for Smarty Jones in 2004, which brought a 7.7 rating and 23 share.
 
Of course, all of these numbers are irrelevant without some perspective and comparison to other top events in high profile professional U.S. sports. While the Kentucky Derby will not be in the same league as the Super Bowl anytime soon with its 42 rating, racing’s biggest day in 2009 stands incredibly strong with other major championship equivalents.
 
The final game of the NBA Championship from last year, in a matchup of the two most storied franchises in the league, drew only 12.6 million viewers.  The Stanley Cup Playoffs featuring the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins never saw more than 6.8 million folks tune in to a game. The Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR, was down this year to a modest 15.95 million television fans. Even America’s Pastime peaked with just 15.49 million at home spectators during last year’s final World Series game.

Something the ratings do not take into account is the large number of racing fans who watch and wager on events like the Triple Crown races and Breeders’ Cup at a local track or simulcast site. Kentucky Derby Day is the biggest day of the year at some tracks, and those in attendance are not counted as television viewers.

This ranks the Kentucky Derby as the second most watched professional sporting championship of the last year, a fact few in the industry would have assumed. And the news is actually better than it looks. Wedged in at around 6 p.m. EST and potentially distracted by the dinner bell or an eventful Saturday, a viewer more likely schedules their day around the Derby coverage whereas a typical championship game appears during the primetime hours of 8-11 pm. That coupled with the lack of build up for the average racing fan as evidenced by the paltry ratings of preps like the Florida Derby, Wood Memorial and Santa Anita Derby, means racing has a legitimate opportunity to capture the imagination of the public if marketed correctly.
 
With drug issues and safety concerns being taken seriously, there will be an opening for racing to breeze through. Will we take the opening and shoot through like Mine That Bird’s last to first rally on May 2nd? Will we look at what we have and figure out how to sell this beautiful sport to the masses beyond the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes? Can we turn the Breeders’ Cup into a legitimate championship that builds from January on?
 
The good news is we can.

Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them.  To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.

Previous Good News Friday subjects: Father Chris Clay, The Race for Education, Military Appreciation Day at Keeneland, Kentucky Oaks Pink Out for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Mary Lee-Butte and the Blue Grass Farms Chaplaincy, Mary Jo Pons and the Radio Reading Network

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

Visit the Paulick Report for all the latest news throughout the racing world.

Sign up for our Email Flashes to get the latest news, analysis and commentary from Ray Paulick

 By Ray Paulick

Santa Anita Park will be the focal point of the racing world on Friday and Saturday with the 25^th running of the Breeders’ Cup world championships, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the nation’s tracks have gone into hibernation for the week.

It was the second time the event was held at Suffolk Downs following the successful debut last year when more than $1.3 million was raised and 15,000 turned out to take a couple of laps around the one-mile track. All proceeds from the event benefit Autism Speaks, the nation’s leading autism advocacy organization. A growing health crisis, autism is a complex brain disorder now affecting one in every 150 children by inhibiting their ability to commmunicate and develop social relationshiops, and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges. A child is diagnosed with autism every 20 minutes.

Since becoming principal owner of Suffolk Downs last March, Richard Fields has elevated the profile of the track in both the racing and local communities through his support of events like Walk Now for Autism and the creation of a policy to prevent racehorses that compete at his track from being sent to slaughter.  Fields has been a welcome and positive addition to the industry.

In a press teleconference that included former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, whose Washington law firm has been hired to independently monitor the reform movement’s progress, NTRA president and CEO Alex Waldrop called the Alliance a “voluntary” organization. He suggested tracks that don’t conform to the Alliance’s Code of Conduct may be considered pariahs by horseplayers, who will bet their money at tracks that do comply. Waldrop also failed to substantively answer any questions about how the industry will pay for the reforms, even going so far as to say the NTRA has no idea how much the reforms will cost. Click here to read the teleconference transcripts.

HALSEY MINOR IS NOT GIVING UP ON HIALEAH PARK. Just because the technology entrepreneur has shifted his attention to MI Developments, the controlling shareholder of the near-bankrupt racetrack company Magna Entertainment, doesn’t mean he’s taken his eye off Hialeah Park, the dormant South Florida track he wants to buy.

Minor told the Paulick Report he intends to legally challenge the city of Hialeah’s right to turn over the deed for Hialeah Park to John Brunetti four years ago at the end of a 30-year lease agreement between Hialeah and Brunetti. Minor contends that Brunetti failed to live up to the terms of the lease by failing to offer live racing, not holding a pari-mutuel license and falling behind in his payments to the city. Minor thinks the city of Hialeah should enforce an eminent domain claim on the land. If not, he said he has a team of lawyers ready to strike.

Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report

Sign up for our Email Flashes to get the latest news, analysis and commentary from Ray Paulick

Visit the Paulick Report for all the latest news throughout the racing world.