Harness: Four billboards outside your local track

The conventional harness racing wisdom follows the conventional political wisdom. Play to your base. Many of the sport’s promotional efforts, especially those sponsored by racetracks, are geared to people who already participate in harness racing in some way, shape or form. Meanwhile, Internet pundits and long-time fans insist we need to find a way to get new people involved – as fans, as players and even as owners. Others bemoan the sport as a dead game. They complain that slot money has ruined racing. But, at least in Ohio, some of that slot money is going to good use, promoting the game as “The most fun you’ve never had.”

The Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association started the campaign two years ago with four billboards, each placed on a major interstate and each within the market area of one of the state’s four pari-mutuel tracks. And so far that part of the campaign has been successful.

OHHA Executive Director Renee Mancino explained, “We don’t have the best locations . . . those can be very expensive. We are still paying $6,000-8,000 a month for those billboards. The expectation was that we would get 30-50 million impressions, but the number has been closer to 100 million.”

The billboards, which feature stylized graphics, not actual photos, trumpet the “most fun never” slogan and steer viewers to the website http://harnessracingohio.com/. That simple site lists the four Ohio tracks with photos, contact information and offers simple how-to instructions on wagering, as well as a downloadable wagering guide. It’s a good start, but Mancino had an idea for more.

“I got the idea when I was in Las Vegas,” she said. “I saw those digital advertising vans becoming more and more popular. If you are going to pay someone to drive them plus the cost of having them on the road, and it is still profitable, it must be working.”

Mancino’s idea, beautiful in its simplicity, if not its eventual execution, was to put custom marketing wraps on horse trailers. “We have sixty-plus county fairs with racing, plus all the guys shipping to the four major tracks. I figured seeing these on the road would really grab people’s attention.”

Horsemen seemed interested, but had their qualms. They wanted real horses, not the graphic version. They wanted pictures of their own horses. They were concerned about not having access to their trailer for several days while the wrap is applied. Finally, Sue Stockwell, at the time an OHHA Director, agreed to be the guinea pig. She volunteered her trailer for the first Scarlet and Gray color scheme.

“We hope to have ten of these trailers on the road by the end of the year,” Mancino said. “We added a red, white and blue patriotic themed wrap. And then green/gold and black/blue, getting closer to being able to match a horseman’s colors. The basic wrap is the same, but horsemen can customize the bulkhead of the trailer with a stable name or a logo, if they have one. They are not customizable to the Nth degree, which was another sticking point for some people, but we need to have some consistency.”

In addition to reinforcing “The most fun you never had slogan,” and providing the website, the trailers offer phrases like “Follow me to the track – eat, drink, win. I bet you’ll be a winner” and “We’ll see you at the track” or “Live racing year round.” The single horse of the billboard has been joined by two others on the trailers, due to the longer, lower profile.

Here’s the kicker. Remember the billboard cost? $6-8,000 monthly. A typical trailer wrap is between $3,500 and $4,500 and is fully guaranteed for five years. Once photos of the Stockwell trailer were released, the OHHA was bombarded with volunteers, since the organization picks up the entire cost, thanks to a promotional budget funded primarily from video lottery (slots) revenue. It does mean the horseman will be without a trailer for a few days, as the wrap needs to be applied and cured (or weatherproofed). For what the OHHA spends on one billboard for one year, they could do 20 trailers (and well may as the promotion goes forward).

Better yet, imagine a fleet of 80 trailers. Not just seeing them crisscrossing the state, but parked in a row where the public can see them. One of the highlights of any county fair is the farm implements displays. Families set their young children in the drive seat of a big tractor and take pictures. I have to think that they would so the same standing in front of a trailer with that cool custom promotional wrap.

I have been a fan of this sport for nearly 45 years and have worked in it in one way or another for almost half my life. I have seen good promotions and bad ones. Heck, I have been fortunate enough to have developed some pretty good ones (and plenty of bad ones) over the years. My gut says this promotion, while not directly measurable in butts in the seats or dollars through the windows, will have a huge positive effect on awareness of harness racing. And that has to be the first step. I’m out. Actually I am following a horse trailer to the track where I will eat, drink and win. In other words, I will go cash. See you next month.