Racing a Niche Part VIII

 Dan posted an article today on the twitter.  It's from Australia and is critical about the way racing is mass marketed. You could read the same article in some quarters here across the pond.

"Maybe the VRC has done market research and worked out that the least promotable thing about horse racing is horse racing."

I was reading an article recently about the promotion of niche sports.

"Recent research has indicated that niche sports cannot borrow directly from the sport management literature focused on mainstream sport. Distinct differences have been found between mainstream and niche sports with respect to sponsorship, fan related attributes, spectator expectations, and participant motives"

Racing does "borrow directly from sport management literature" - mass TV, concerts, food trucks, cross promotions etc - to market itself, when, if it is niche, that's probably exactly what isn't needed.

Is racing a niche sport, or is not, is probably the most important question it needs to ask itself, and answer. If racing is niche, a complete marketing 180 should occur, because this is not something that you can tinker with; you're not almost pregnant and you're not almost niche.