Cover Image: AAP via Just Horse Racing
The two sectors of the broader thoroughbred industry which have been transformed the most by the digital revolution of the 21st century are wagering and broadcasting.
It wasn't that long ago that the only way you could experience racing was either by being at the track, or via subscription television either at home, or at a TAB, pub or club. Similarly, the wagering experience was restricted to either on-track, via totalisator agency or over the phone.
Now the experience is vastly different, with betting and vision both available at the touch of a mobile phone button, revolutionising the way the 'Sport of Kings' is consumed and commercialised.
Mobile phones are fast revolutionising how we interact with racing
As a company, Tabcorp sits at the nexus of that revolution. It remains the primary wagering provider for Australians, while also controlling the rights to the vast majority of race vision through its established Sky Racing platform.
While it finds itself in a vastly more competitive wagering market, it is also in a rare position to innovate in a way which could create a game-changing vision product.
And that is the genesis of Sky Racing Active, a customised and personalised broadcast solution which has been likened to the 'Netflix' of racing.
Netflix was able to disrupt the established entertainment and broadcast market because it was able to fill a customer need to have an on-demand experience. The access to high-speed internet took streaming to every lounge room in the country and, when overlaying that with exclusive content, it has changed the way we 'watch TV' forever.
It was a similar theory which drove the innovation of Sky Racing Active.
"We wanted to put the viewer experience back in the hands of the customer," Darren Pearce, Executive General Manager Media & International at Tabcorp said.
"We also wanted to support our racing industry partners and promote all codes of racing and target the next generation of racing fans by building a new product which plays to how they want to consume visual media."
"We also wanted to support our racing industry partners... and target the next generation of racing fans by building a new product which plays to how they want to consume visual media." - Darren Pearce
The wagering industry in particular has become a hive of innovation in the past decade, challenging Tabcorp's established business models. A slew of new 'Wagering Service Providers', or corporate bookmakers as they are more commonly known, have emerged, and now backed by significant overseas investors, are looking to occupy Tabcorp's spot at the top of the tree.
The competitive edge Tabcorp did have in this space, along with the power of incumbency, was that it was an integrated wagering and vision business. With the resources at its disposal, it was able to offer something that no-one else could.
So, driven by customer feedback and utilising the support of the racing industry, it set about building a product which would not only lead the way, but change the way racing was consumed.
Darren Pearce, Executive General Manager Media & International at Tabcorp
"The most important process for us was ensuring that we kept our racing partners front of mind, taking them on the journey with us. We wanted Sky Racing Active to be the best product it could be for the industry, and for racing fans – we were absolutely customer led, " Pearce said.
Two years in the making
It wasn't an easy undertaking and was two years in development before the beta version of the Sky Racing Active App was delivered earlier this month.
"We brought together the right skills from across the business, with a focus on building a team of people who are themselves racing fans (virtual customers)," Pearce said.
"We were fortunate, as there were no real technical challenges."
The initial product has been well received. In terms of customised functionality, it offers the opportunity for users to utilise playlists in order to follow their favourite jockey, runner, trainer, venue or tipster. Those playlists are tied into 'pulse alerts' which provide a reminder service to users.
There is an integrated and advanced form guide, featuring vision of at least five previous runs for each horse*, including barrier trials, as well as Sky Racing shows on demand.
What is also significant is the establishment of dedicated streamed channels for thoroughbred, harness and greyhounds, allowing users to choose which code to follow.
The measure of success in Tabcorp's eyes is in the number of downloads and active users it attracts, the average time spent on the app and of course the feedback from the racing industry and customers.
That feedback will be crucial in determining how the future development of the app is prioritised.
"We are delighted to have received strong feedback from the industry and from customers," Pearce said. "There is a great level of excitement around Sky Racing Active and the innovations that it has brought to the racing industry."
"Within the first 72 hours of launch, Sky Racing Active was downloaded by over 10,000 people, spending the equivalent of 45 days on the platform watching live vision and videos on demand."
"Within the first 72 hours of launch, Sky Racing Active was downloaded by over 10,000 people, spending the equivalent of 45 days on the platform watching live vision and videos on demand." - Darren Pearce
"We are constantly searching for feedback from our customers and the racing industry during this beta period and beyond to ensure that we are making the app as outstanding as it can be."
The current app, available for free, is just the first step on what Tabcorp hopes will be a journey to a fully customised service.
Hopes for a national solution
The one blank spot the app does have is, of course, the access to Victorian and South Australian thoroughbred racing, the reason for the asterix above.
Victoria and SA currently vest their digital vision rights in the Racing.com platform. That means that while Sky Racing is able to broadcast racing from those states on its Sky Racing 1, wall-to-wall platform, it is restricted in how it utilises that vision, or for that matter race replays, anywhere else.
The rights situation is a complicated one, and tied into state versus state industry politics, but Pearce said the door always remains open to a national industry-wide solution.
"Before launching the product, we briefed the SA and VIC thoroughbred industries about the app. They currently have rights deals in place, however, we are certainly open to continuing discussions to provide the best possible experience for racing fans," he said.
"We believe we have created something really unique and exciting in Australian racing."
'Customer-led', is a key concept to what happens going forward as Tabcorp continues to innovate to what is an ever-evolving market.
"The concept of SRA was born from creating a customer-led experience, and the ongoing feedback we get will help to shape the how the product will look in the future," Pearce said.
"The concept of SRA was born from creating a customer-led experience, and the ongoing feedback we get will help to shape the how the product will look in the future." - Darren Pearce
"Our beta launch of the app is our first step in unlocking the potential of the app – it has a significant range of capabilities that we can activate in time – by building this ourselves, we are able to move quickly to roll out new features, and we intend to start doing so from the end of the beta period."
"All of this underlines how important customer and racing industry feedback will be to shape the direction of SRA into the future."
