Original Article: by Garnet Barnsdale, contributing writer found at DownTheStretch
Nobody has worked harder in Ontario in 2020 to promote their on-track product than the new management team at Hanover Raceway and it’s paid off handsomely so far.
General Manager Steve Fitzsimmons indicated he is elated with the response to several new promotional initiatives which have led to handle jumping by more than double, even though the racing is happening in front of empty stands.
“We’re quite thrilled with the interest in our product in the first two race dates and our handles,” Fitzsimmons beamed. “There’s no question that our Board of Directors’ decision to move to the 2 pm afternoon post time and away from some of the bigger players on Saturday night has paid dividends.”
Consider that Hanover Raceway’s typical Saturday night crowd bet an average of $26,000 last year. Through two weeks of the 2020 meet - with betting only available online through the Horseplayer Interactive website - the 1/2-mile track handled an average of $66,000. Those wagering numbers represent the highest bet at Hanover since 1991. In addition to moving to an afternoon post time and not having to compete with big guns Meadowlands Racetrack and Woodbine Mohawk Park, here’s how they are doing it:
- Hanover has embraced and utilized every form of media they could find, starting with switching their video feed to High Definition. They have also been extremely active on social media and are showing the race feed on Facebook Live, starting with a pre-game show at 1:30 p.m.
- They have partnered with Ryan Clements of Farm Games - creator of racing game apps Catch Driver and Off and Pacing - to create a $2,000 guaranteed “Catch Driver Pick 4” which starts in Race One. They heavily promote this Pick 4 on social media utilizing local star bettors like Tommy “Hammer” Massis who recently took down a $1.17 million pot on a multi-race bet on Hong Kong Races. The pool drew $2,900 in its first go, close to 50% more than the guarantee.
- They hired a young assistant - Tony Elliott - who is social media savvy, passionate, and energetic; and tirelessly promotes the track’s product and new features and innovations.
- They've added contests such as the weekly Survivor which offers a prize of a $100 HPI deposit to whoever can pick a horse that finishes in the money in the most consecutive races starting with the first, and Ryan Clements Catch Driver Showdown competition which offers prizes to the drivers based on mutuel prices paid on horses that they drive.
- Because they race in the afternoon, they have attracted some star power: Mohawk Park drivers like Doug McNair - who leads the nation in earnings - and Scott Young.
They may have been a bit lucky at the start of their meet, Fitzsimmons admitted.
“We’ve been fortunate to have no direct competition from the U.S. in the first two weeks, which changes this week with both Pocono Downs and the Meadows coming back on stream,” he explained. “That said, we’ve worked very hard on increasing both the content level, as well as the quality of our broadcast product. With my television background, I knew coming to this job that it was an area I wanted to address, as far as what I wanted our product to look like. To accomplish my goals, we built a new TV studio and have upgraded to streaming our product in HD on Facebook, You Tube, as well as our website. We had a goal to make our product as accessible as we could and at the highest level of quality we could.”
Fitzsimmons was quick to heap praise on Elliott for his efforts.
“If the secret isn’t out on Tony Elliott yet, I expect it won’t be much longer before the industry realizes what a bright, young future star he’s going to be,” he said of the 20 year-old. “His passion for this industry and Hanover Raceway have been a pleasure to be around and he’s had some great ideas that we’ve implemented and that have made our track better. He’s done a very nice job in his first chance to be an on-air broadcaster and he’ll continue to improve and grow, as he gets more experience.”
Clements also gets some love from Fitzsimmons.
“We’ve been very happy to partner with Ryan Clements and Farm Games on a few ventures this season. They bring tremendous value to the table for us and we’re both interested in growing the sport and our business.”
Realizing that the handle jump is nice, but at well under $100,000 per card, where does Hanover Raceway go from here to try to get to that elusive number? Fitzsimmons thinks they will get a handle boost by default when they open the doors to their regular clientele again and he probably isn’t wrong, considering the demographics involved. A typical crowd at the track is elderly and sits on their lawn chairs by the rail, enjoying a summer night out at the races, betting $2 or $5 a race. Hanover’s show pools have often been bigger than their win pools in the past. Much of the $66,000 being bet online likely isn’t coming from this crowd during the pandemic.
“We believe that a significant portion of our fans have either been unable or unwilling to sign up for an HPI Bet account and when our business returns to normal, we’ll receive a bump in handle from them returning,” Fitzsimmons noted. “We also believe that introducing the 15% low takeout Pick 4 has and will continue to bring us a different segment of wagering customer that we’ve never had before, sampling our product, and we’re hopeful they will enjoy it and make some money and return to bet again.”
One thing seems certain. If the desired subsequent handle increases don’t come, it won’t be because of a lack of effort from Hanover Raceway’s dynamic new management team.