Pulse
XB Net: Running with the field
By Lewis - 8 June 2020
Simon Fraser, Senior Vice President of International at XB Net, assesses how North American horse racing has been flying the flag for live sport during the pandemic.
In life, it’s often possible to be unaware of what you’re missing out on. Anything could conceivably be better – careers, relationships, hobbies, diets – you just don’t have the opportunity or inclination to try them all. Consequently, to some significant extent, we’re all hostages to fortune in the preferences we form around the narrower world with which we actually collide.
The entertainment business is a microcosm of this. There’s far too much choice to try every channel that’s competing for our time and attention. So, we invariably default to our own pre-existing preferences – based on what’s familiar or recommended by the peers and media we trust.
Live sport and its attendant sportsbooks are just another funnel at the entertainment factory, vying for recreational market share. The trouble is that this popular and lucrative funnel has been abruptly cut off at source, ever since the outbreak of COVID-19 put the planet on pause, bringing the worldwide sporting schedule to a juddering halt.
Even dark clouds can create silver linings though, and US horse racing across many states is one of the few top-class sports which has been able to maintain both a solid timetable and high standards throughout the present pandemic. In fact, in an entertainment vacuum of live sports, it arguably stands alone as a proven premium product whose live streaming and data services are not beset with the integrity concerns and market suspensions that have blighted tertiary “filler” sports like Nicaraguan football, Russian table-tennis or exhibition tennis. Instead, US horse racing provides a trustworthy and regular flow of rapid-cycle betting opportunities which engage audience eyeballs, whether they’re interested in watching one race or an entire card.
At XB Net, by virtue of our huge racecourse network, we’ve been quick to recognise and respond to this unique opportunity for North American racing with a record number of deals with our global operators and their customers over the past few months. From Gulfstream Park in Florida to Los Alamitos in California, our racetracks have been able to stage racing behind closed doors, with the welfare of all participants paramount and stringently observed. Happily, humans are not the central protagonists in this sport. While our vast tracks afford ample room for logistical movements, with sensible social distancing and safety more easily acquired now that the fans are staying home.
Then it’s just a question of doing what we can to responsibly leverage racing’s moment in the spotlight by connecting with those watching or wagering via online and TV Channels. Racing’s loyal and educated fanbase are a given, but the challenge is familiarising new customers with the sport, or cross-selling them as to its merits from other betting verticals.
For all its many nuances and jargon, horse racing is perhaps one of the easiest sports for the uninitiated to get behind. There are no obscure rules of engagement or scoring systems to process, as there are with most sports. It’s just a race: from the gates to the wire. While, as an exciting showcase, equine athletes in full flight represent a stunning, high-octane spectacle that immediately grabs an audience’s attention. From a betting perspective, the fast-settling nature of race-by-race wagering is attractive, while a steady stream of quality content from all corners of the States can help flexibly fill the gaps in operators’ 24/7 programming, wherever they are in the world, especially at a time when it’s slim pickings on any sports betting tab.
Of course, North American racing is not the only product to have taken its shot during the sports shutdown. You’ll doubtless have heard about poker’s renaissance, the growth in virtuals, and esports’ emergence as a betting medium. However, every product faces the same question: is this a sustainable sea change or a short-term wave in revenues? As discussed, horse racing’s short-form flexibility, coupled to an authentic and relatable status, gives it a distinct edge for universal appeal among regular and casual consumers alike. But that doesn’t mean we can just plug it in and rest on our laurels. The necessity to educate and acquaint remains.
To which end, XB Net’s marketing team is committed to educating customers at every stage of the “playing cycle”, thereby increasing acquisition and reliable retention. Naturally, that goes to a number of domains of communication – from integrating the right ‘Watch and Bet’ model (proven to keep bettors engaged for longer) to offering a marketing portal which clearly articulates a tripartite product (thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing) and informs customers as to racing’s subtleties. The latter can mean anything from racetrack specifics and draw biases to specialist trainers, or hot jockeys. Who knew two-time champ Irad Ortiz Jr wins a staggering 25 per cent of his turf rides? It’s just another way to pique the public interest in a sport with so many layers, ranging from deep statistics to pure theatre.
In short, knowledge and familiarity are everything. They help unravel any mysteries for the novice, while also pulling together the narrative threads which make horse racing such a rich and absorbing sport to follow. Indeed, its fans rank amongst the most loyal and engaged of any sport. So, when our service is complemented by calls to action and form / odds displays, betting activity typically isn’t far away.
Collaboration is also key. And it’s an activity we pride ourselves on at XB Net where our business relationships already span the globe. Trading off our rich heritage in the management of rights, live video, data and wagering pathways for over 100 top North American tracks allows us to demonstrate that commitment to working with others. That’s why we’ve made it our signature to stay the course for as long as any partner’s needs require. Even before the current crisis, there were often green operators as well as green bettors, uncertain as to the immediate future: whether that means familiarity with operational logistics, or best positioning a new product in order to attract its optimum audience. XB Net takes the sting out of such uncertainty, allowing customers to simply enjoy the pulse-pounding excitement of North American racing, with its massive pools offering some potentially life-changing payouts.
Ultimately, the goal for any supplier should be to provide the resources which allow you to be more responsive both before and after client launch dates – establishing efficient channels of communication, liaising back and forth, monitoring the feeds, and checking all content is being displayed correctly. No matter how proactive your planning, you have to be reactive to emerging challenges and any unforeseen requirements to make any solution work for the individual operator. What works with XB Net’s raft of tier-one operators in the UK, for example, won’t necessarily function so well in Spain. Elsewhere in Europe, we’re now exploring tailored approaches with SNAI, MST and GVC Eurobet in Italy, whose domestic racing had faced steady year-on-year declines even before the coronavirus outbreak. So, as Italy now bids to rebound from lockdown, these operator dials must be set correctly in order to ensure a great joined-up betting experience across online, mobile and struggling retail channels.
While it’s always great to plan globally, you need to remember to deliver a flexible enough solution that works locally. Live, premium daily sport is ostensibly an easy sell wherever you are in the world, particularly in the current climate. However, if that sport’s betting markets are consistent and familiar to customers, as they are with North American racing, then that traction will take hold more quickly and prove long-lasting.
After all, we’re all creatures of habit. And habits are patterns of repeated behaviour which are often tied to a particular context or environment. That environment could be your sofa at the end of the day, watching Netflix. For more and more of us under lockdown, it certainly appears to be the case! Although that’s not to say increasing numbers aren’t flipping the channel to watch some North American racing instead – especially rudderless sports fans.
XB Net’s ongoing partnership with Sky Sports is providing an eloquent case in point. These live nightly pictures – coupled to Sky’s friendly, informative analysis – have been instructive in initiating and accustoming many new viewers to North American racing, for which we’ve seen record audience figures in April and May in the UK, across weekdays and Saturdays. The signs are this trend will only extend, thanks to Sky’s mainstream home schooling.
Granted, when major sports do eventually return in a dependable fashion, most fans will revisit old haunts. Yet our developing retention figures strongly suggest that many heads have now been turned by North American racing to the extent that it can take a long-term place in their broader entertainment interests. Particularly given its quick-fire events which conveniently fill the recreational gaps for bettors. Providing the right content at the right time remains so important, and our broad portfolio of low-latency racing products and racetracks delivers that flexibility.
Therefore, during a time that will be remembered as a period of great adaptation, it’s no surprise that operators are learning to adapt their offerings to accommodate changing appetites. This historic hiatus in the sporting calendar will definitely rewire some of those player preferences and we’re confident that North American racing is finding its way into the hearts and routines of untapped audiences that may have otherwise overlooked it.
More broadly, as British, Irish and French also return from the sidelines to join parts of Australia, New Zealand and Japan, racing’s visibility has improved. As has its ability to connect with a modern audience which may have mistakenly viewed it as a specialist sport with legacy appeal.
This is fantastic news for the sport we love, especially with so many marquee events now back-loaded to later in the season. Of course, for US fans, we still have the Breeders’ Cup and hopefully a rejigged Triple Crown to come, with XB Net’s very own Preakness Stakes from Pimlico (where legends like Seabiscuit and Secretariat have both raced to victory) still on the cards for the autumn. Elsewhere, this year’s Florida Derby series (whose winner has punched a ticket to Kentucky’s main event) was just another storyline which connected with a global public outside its local sphere for the first time this year.
So, whether a hard diet of Netflix, North American racing or something slower-paced is keeping you smiling during the long lockdown evenings, horse racing is well and truly back on entertainment’s recommendation engine.
