Sportsbet boss Barni Evans says racing must hero its biggest stars

Sportsbet CEO Barni Evans chewed the fat with senior racing writer Ben Dorries about a number of major issues in horse racing.

Sportsbet CEO Barni Evans. Picture: Aaron Francis.

The boss of wagering giant Sportsbet says racing must do more to hero its stars to grow its fan base and remain entertaining.

With other sports growing quicker in terms of the wagering pie, Sportsbet chief executive Barni Evans says racing must pull out its trump cards and unique qualities.

“To stay fun and entertaining, racing needs positive role models and influencers,” Evans told Racenet.

“Most people don’t realise, but it is one of the few sports in the world where both men and women compete equally against each other.

“By celebrating this, the heroes and the history, racing has an amazing narrative that fans can be emotionally invested in. There are things that can be introduced to bring an even better experience for fans.

“That can be as simple as looking at some different race times, different gaps between races or embracing technology and looking outside the industry to innovate.”

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Wagering turnover is under a sharp watch given the sugar hits of the Covid pandemic years are now long gone.

There is also a watch on recommendations stemming from a wide-ranging House of Representatives inquiry into online gambling.

There are grave concerns in the wagering industry over recommendations around a blanket ban on the offering of inducements and online advertising.

In terms of the potential to ban promotions, Evans told Racenet it could drive customers towards illegal offshore bookies.

“Offers and promotions are taxed and generate revenue, which then drives turnover and more funding for racing,” Evans said.

“So a ban would hurt racing – both directly in terms of revenue, and indirectly in terms of racing fans having a punt.

“There is also a concern that if measures like this are implemented, you’ll see a rise in customers turning illegal offshore providers who don’t offer anywhere near the same customer protections that legal operators do.”

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Sportsbet chief executive Barni Evans.

Evans said that while other sports were growing faster than racing in terms of wagering at Sportsbet, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for racing.

He also pointed to how the greyhound racing market share in the wagering space was skyrocketing.

“Racing is still the majority of our business, but sport is growing faster and will catch up if current trends continue,” Evans said.

“But that’s not a bad thing for racing.

“Far from being a competitor, we believe racing and sports wagering are complimentary to each other. Over the past three years, we have seen greyhound racing’s share of our total turnover increase by almost a third.

“It has also claimed a larger percentage out of the three racing codes. It is encouraging to see greyhound racing increase in popularity and we are fully supportive of the code.”

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Evans believes more dialogue between racing bodies – such as when Racing NSW and the Melbourne Racing Club worked collaboratively on The Everest/Caulfield Guineas day – is a positive for the code.

Originally published as Sportsbet boss Barni Evans says racing must hero its biggest stars