However the content of the IGBs seasonal messages seem to have switched the blame for their dire performance over the last 7 years from the recession to advances in technology.

The PAC in May 2017 clearly highlighted that the real reason for the IGBs dire financial performance is due to inept management arising from people being hired for important positions on the basis of who they know and not what they know.

Gerard Dollard is facing a monumental task having inherited a dysfunctional organisation and there is no chance of recovery if he does not initiate a situation analysis for the industry that is honest.

An honest appraisal of the industry should begin by benchmarking the industry against its nearest competitor (Horse Racing Ireland) using the industrys most important key performance indicator (tote turnover). Tote betting is the vital revenue for the greyhound industry because capacity is not a constraint unlike other revenue streams such as restaurant sales. This analysis shows that the horse racing industry has achieved unprecedented growth while the greyhound industry continues to collapse.

2006 - 50.527 million (IGB) - 49.661 million (HRI) IGB outperformed HRI by 0.866 million
2015 - 19.587 million (IGB) - 75.335 million (HRI) HRI outperformed IGB by 55.748 million
2016 - 19.475 million (IGB) - 92.854 million (HRI) HRI outperformed IGB by 73.379 million

EXTERNAL LINK

The graph above illustrates that the greyhound industrys tote turnover outperformed the horse racing industry in 2006 by just under 1 million. However in recent times, the IGBs situation has gravely deteriorated to the point where the HRIs tote turnover outperformed the IGB by 73.379 million in 2016. Remember this opportunity cost is not a once off loss, its happening every year under this management structure.

And it is the trainers, owners and breeders that are suffering; EXTERNAL LINK

It is important to include the 2006 tote figures because it proves that greyhound racing can compete with horse racing. The big advantage that greyhound racing has over horse racing is that it is a night time activity which is when people spend most of their disposal income while horse race meetings are usually confined to afternoon events held in the countryside.

The above chart shows the recessions effect on the horse racings tote revenue which bottomed out in 2010 on 40.314 million but has continually grown every year since 2010. However the IGBs tote revenue continues to fall hitting an all-time low in 2016 of 19.475 million and proves that using the recession as an excuse for the 2015 accounts was not being honest by the IGB.

I believe a major reason for the IGBs reversal of fortune since 2006, derives from the fact that the HRI have embraced technology to drive tote turnover to 92.854 million while the IGB are using technology as an excuse to justify their inept management performance.

In addition the IGBs sales & marketing function has been defective for many years as evidenced by the IGBs marketing plan EXTERNAL LINK that was presented to the PAC in May 2017. The good news is that any change has to be an improvement and in the sport of Darts, we have seen what a capable sales & marketing department can achieve.

It is amazing how the Ministers and the Department of Agriculture have allowed the IGB to remain in place despite the disastrous financial returns for the past 7 years and the Indecon report which clearly stated that the current board are not fit for purpose. History will not judge them well.

Next weeks National Consultative Forum involves inviting hand-picked stakeholders and is only an exercise to prove to the Ministers that the IGB is in touch with the rank & file of the industry. It is an intangible representation of the old regime that has allowed the greyhound industry drift into the abyss and is considered a charade by the industries grassroots why not call a public meeting similar to Horse & Jockey. It will not bring about the necessary change.

What is required is for the IGB to develop and initiate a strategic marketing plan that adopts best practice techniques. The link below shows such a process that I have developed using an array of business tools that could deliver this marketing plan.

EXTERNAL LINK

If anyone needs to develop digital marketing campaigns for their business, do not hesitate to contact me as there are substantial reductions for members of the greyhound community.

Kieran

EXTERNAL LINK

The aim was to show that engaging in a digital marketing campaign does not have to cost money but requires hiring people trained & experienced in digital marketing best practice.

Google Analytics is a free service and allows you to set goals so you can track where traffic is coming from and how often. The link below shows that 91 new potential customers were driven to the site with 87 coming from greyhound data and 4 from Facebook.

EXTERNAL LINK

MailChimp allows you to send up to 12,000 emails per month free of charge. In less than a day the email had been opened 88 times. MailChimp also identifies the people who opened so you would follow up with a sales call knowing that these people were interested enough to open the email. The link below shows that 20 new potential customers were driven to the site.

EXTERNAL LINK

The bottom line is that in one day, this direct marketing activity drove a total of 111 NEW POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS to the Pietas website and the only cost was my time.

Currently the IGBs digital marketing activities are for existing customers only when they should be targeting new customers. They need to identify all of the revenue streams that apply to their business model and find third party sites that are used by each of their identified customer segments. They should then provide content that adds value to these new individuals such as prize draws, two for the price of one entry or a free bottle of wine with their meal to entice these new customers to the track.

Imagine if every greyhound track had someone in the office carrying out localised digital marketing activities to drive traffic to EXTERNAL LINK

Yesterdays small campaign drove over 100 people to my site and if the IGB started doing this, say, one day a week for each of the 16 tracks then you would start to see the tote revenue rising as well as increasing attendances and new sponsors.

Leopardstown regularly send me an email similar to the link below and this is one of the reasons why the HRI have just announced that prizemoney next year will rise by 2.2m to a record figure of 63.3m.

EXTERNAL LINK

EXTERNAL LINK

Back in June 2017, the National Economic Dialogue brought politicians and social partners together to discuss priorities ahead of the October budget. At this meeting Leo Varadkar stated that he was determined to find resources for income tax cuts in the next budget and hinted that some spending programs may be axed to free up money for other areas. He called it the hidden fiscal space in the 56 billion that goes on existing programs.

Are we sure that all of these existing spending programs really represent the best use of resources. If as little as 1% or 2% of that could be reallocated, we could have another 560k to over 1 billion to allocate to areas that are most in need. This in many ways is the hidden fiscal space and is something we need to examine.

I should have noted above that not only is there a disastrous reduction in tote turnover between 2006 and 2016 but the profitability is dramatically reduced. 2006 would have tote profits of 5 million whereas 2016 would be less than 750 k at best.

However probably of more concern to the industry is on track bookmaker betting. Not a revenue earner for the IGB but critically important for most owners and trainers.

20 years ago I and my late uncle could go to Mullingar and easily have a monkey or a grand on at a decent price. Of course we lost more times than we won but we could always get on and we loved the planning and excitement of it all.

Today at all tracks, yes including Shelbourne, there are few bookies left and the market is almost non-existent. Many people buy greyhounds to have a bet. Greyhound racing is supposed to be a gambling sport. It no longer is. You cannot get a decent bet in Ireland either on course or off course.

A syndicate of ten buy a dog; give it to a trainer who eventually tells them they are going to win next Thursday night in say Limerick or Cork. The members decide to have 100 on each. They have absolutely no chance of getting on at the right price, if at all.

Yes you can get on in Shelbourne on a Saturday night. However not too many dogs make Shelbourne on a Saturday night, and then there are five top class dogs to beat. I am sorry to say but greyhound racing in Ireland is no longer a gambling sport and therefore has a very uncertain future.

Bookmaker betting in Shelbourne in 2006 was 20 million. In 2016 it was less than 6 million and I would not like to guess at the bookmaker turnover for the other 15 tracks. And it is not the bookies fault; if there are few punters then they cannot lay the proper odds.

People spend their hard earned money, owning greyhounds, in the million to one hope of getting a Derby winner. However it becomes just too expensive without being able to bet on their average greyhounds and is a major reason why owners have been leaving this sport in droves.