How horse racing can maintain its strong standing

A very popular global sport, horse racing has a tremendous number of events taking place across all hours of the day worldwide. Sportsbooks demand a considerable volume of content, a requirement that horse racing can undoubtedly meet. Across LatAm, there is a very strong affinity with horse racing, with premier races occurring throughout the region. In this sense, leading multi-content provider of 24/7 live betting services Sports Information Services (SIS) has made a solid commitment to enhancing the continued growth of the sport by supporting a number of key races and events.

The sport has cemented itself at the heart of many sportsbooks, thanks to the volume of content and betting opportunities, but there have also been developments to the sport as a betting proposition, with operators providing new markets in addition to the traditional win, place show, exacta and trifecta bets.

Yielding an unrivaled array of opportunities for bettors, with a regular stream of both local and international races available to bet on around the clock, there is a risk that if it is not marketed and promoted accordingly, the future of the sport could be in danger. At SIS, we go to great lengths to ensure this won’t be the case by providing the broadest range of markets and worldwide scope of coverage to help sportsbooks attract both enthusiasts and a new generation of fans.

A MORE VARIED BETTING PROPOSITION

Increasingly, operators are seeing the value in offering more engagement to their users by working within the parameters of each race to present proposition bets that are more attractive to casual racing fans. For example, if there is an odds-on favorite in one race, bettors can place a bet on the winning distance; or, depending on the number of horses in the race, they can bet without that favorite.

SIS Content Services is dedicated to capitalizing on the opportunities available to digital sportsbooks across the Americas by providing them with our portfolio of over 38,000 horse races. The content is supplied as an end-to-end solution, including live streamed pictures, data, commentary, and on-screen graphics with betting triggers along, with an extensive range of markets and prices.

A COMMITMENT TO THE SPORT’S GROWTH

Additionally, SIS supports its content partners by highlighting the biggest days through sponsorship and worldwide promotion. In Latin America, SIS has distribution rights to races from Hipodromo de Palermo (Argentina); Hipodromo Chile, Club Hipico Santiago, Valparaiso Sporting and Club Hipico de Concepcion (Chile); Hipodromo Nacional de Maroñas and Las Piedras (Uruguay); Hipodromo de las Americas (Mexico), and Hipodromo Presidente Remon (Panama).

This year, we are sponsoring races on the following premier race days in South and Central America: Gran Premio Republica Argentina, Gran Premio Nacional, Gran Premio Jose Pedro Ramirez, Gran Premio General Artigas, Gran Premio Hipodromo Chile, El Ensayo, El Derby, and Clasico del Caribe.

Our core product is horse racing; therefore, our objective is to maximize revenue to the racetracks to assure that racing is healthy, which allows us to provide sportsbooks with a competitive and engaging product. We have agreements with the leading LatAm operators, including Codere, Betcris and Betsson, to provide them with our 24/7 live racing offering.

Latin America racetracks are an integral segment of SIS’ racing portfolio as they make up part of the total of 38,000 races annually from over 185 racetracks in 18 countries.

Horse racing is one of the region’s most beloved sports, attracting spectators to tracks throughout the year. The quality of the horses and jockeys is among the greatest in the world, with several countries having a long history of breeding and racing horses. Many nations view horse racing as a representation of tradition and culture, and therefore, have a strong passion to follow the sport.

Around the globe, horse racing has long been recognized not only for the action on the track, but it has also seen as key dates in the social calendar, and it is no different in Latin America. El Derby in Chile reaches attendances of over 150,000, where it is a day of celebration for the local community and for racegoers from further afield, and there are similar patterns across Latin America’s biggest horse racing events.

ENGAGING AUDIENCES

All sports face a challenge in engaging younger audiences. Operators need to adapt on how they communicate with younger people and be receptive to fresh ideas and campaigns. There is a need for more dynamic digital services to excite and engage. Content also needs to be designed in a way that makes the fans and betting customers feel part of the narrative.

There is also a case for operators to alter their thinking from a betting perspective and to simplify things. Horse racing can be quite a daunting sport to bet on, with so many factors enumerated in past performances and race conditions. There should be an onus on operators to present a more straightforward proposition for consumers and allow them to have a bet even if they don’t have the time or inclination to digest all the information available to them.

With horse racing still one of the most attractive wagering opportunities for bettors, operators are diversifying how they engage with players, and they are seeing the benefits. With other sports offering hundreds of markets per event, racing can’t afford to be left behind. With a top-class content portfolio, the opportunity for operators to engage their users has never been bigger.