The Jockey Club Teams Up with CSM to Redefine Horseracing Partnerships
The Jockey Club, Britain's largest horseracing operator, has appointed CSM Sport & Entertainment as its principal sales agency for commercial rights.
Despite a drop in racecourse attendance, which fell below five million for the first time since 1995, the horseracing industry remains resilient. Challenges such as the cost-of-living crisis and post-Covid blues have impacted attendance figures, but major events like The Cheltenham Festival and The Randox Grand National continue to thrive.
While mid-tier meetings experienced declines, initiatives to enhance customer experience, like reduced capacity at Royal Ascot, have been introduced. Although attendance figures have fluctuated, the focus remains on creating value for racegoers and providing an exceptional experience.
The agreement between The Jockey Club and CSM forms part of a new approach to partnerships for Britain's largest horseracing operator, whose three feature assets – The Cheltenham Festival, The Randox Grand National and The Derby Festival – all sit in the top ten most attended sporting events in the country.
Work is already underway between CSM and The Jockey Club’s in-house commercial team to build an impactful go-to-market strategy. This aligns closely with the organisation’s new partnerships approach, which is led by its three major events and supported by opportunities across all of its 15 racecourse and 332 racedays annually.
“The Jockey Club sits at the heart of British horseracing and everything we do aims to deliver on our mission to act for the long term good of the sport. To deliver a sustainable future for racing, its people and its horses we have to ensure our rights are delivering on their commercial potential so we can continue to reinvest. We’re delighted to be working with CSM given their track record in the industry and we look forward to seeing which brands from home and abroad look to seize this unique opportunity.”
Carey Weeks, Director of Partnerships at The Jockey Club
Using their industry insight and expertise CSM will leverage its relationships to discover new partnership opportunities from around the globe for The Jockey Club, which is the only organisation to reinvest all of its profits back into horseracing, an industry that contributes £4.1 billion and around 85,000 jobs to the UK economy every year.
“Horseracing is amongst the most followed sports in the UK, and we are thrilled to be partnering with The Jockey Club who own the rights to some of our most historic and high-profile events. Their offering is totally unique within the sport and entertainment industry, boasting genuine gender equality, more free-to-air broadcast than any other sport and an audience demographic that is broader than any other sport we currently work in.”
Mike Vandrau, CSM’s Managing Director – Rights, said
