The Victoria racing industry's decision to spend over $1m on Racing.com and build a $15m content hub is a strong signal that the sporting codes and communities are taking everything in house and becoming media businesses. The move will pile on more pressure to traditional newspapers and publishers as audiences and ad dollars are further eroded.
Racing Victoria's move has brought together all four of the state racing clubs and Racing.com is now briefing media agencies in a bid to drum up brand support for what it promises will be "the single authority within the racing industry with Australia's most respected editorial team." It wants around $300,000 from five "foundation partners" in a move that will alarm publishers for whom racing news has attracted strong audiences and ad dollars.
The portal is planning a multimillion dollar marketing push from 1 September to run throughout the Spring Carnival.
Victoria Racing is touting 1.6m monthly users across the site, of which some 340,000 will come from mobile devices, with editorial headed up by former Sportal managing editor Bren O'Brien.
Its strategy is almost a straight copy of AFL.com and NRL.com which are now racking up millions of unique visitors every month and have taken the lead from traditional independent publishers in terms of delivering news and video content.
If Racing.com achieves anywhere near that level of support and audience share it could quickly become the only game in town.
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.
Need a job? Visit adnewsjobs.com.au.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at brendancoyne@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.