The R2 million Gr1 Summer Cup’s new sponsor Gbets will get their first major raceday exposure when the historic race is hosted at Turffontein on Saturday 1 December.
Home Guard wins the 1970 Summer Cup
The questions around the logic and rationale of the strategy of welcoming an effective competitor entity that offers the open bet were put to Tellytrack CEO and Sales & Marketing Executive for Phumelela, Rob Scott by the Sporting Post today.
In their own words, Gbets is one of South Africa and Africa’s premium sports betting companies. Its core functions are to operate a viable and thriving business, provide legitimate high quality entertainment, and also serve as an agent for transformation and upliftment of the local community. Gbets currently holds Bookmaker Licences in 6 South African provinces as well as regionally in the countries of Lesotho, Tanzania and Mozambique. They offer the open bet on horseracing – an often sore point for the racing operators.
North Island – 1983 Holiday Inns
“I know a lot of people are under the impression that we sometimes blunder into things and don’t apply our minds, but that’s not true,” says the charismatic 48yo Scott, a former retail executive who joined Tellytrack as CEO three years ago after 21 years of long hours and tedious travel. A happily divorced father of three, he has family roots in horseracing and has owned horses for many years.
Rob Scott- determined to build the Summer Cup
“What we do when assessing any sponsor relationship is to separate the betting aspect from the horseracing side of things. It’s also a minimum requirement, in the case of a Bookmaker, that they are paying for the televised Tellytrack TV picture. Beyond that, we are only too happy to welcome a competitor, as you call them, on board. The reality is that horseracing does not have sponsors queuing up to dish out cash. When it’s a win-win situation with reciprocal synergy, as we have in this case, it’s only a pleasure to afford Gbets the high-profile billing of our biggest raceday,” he added.
To further give weight to his argument that having a Bookmaking concern on board as a big-race sponsor made sense in terms of providing an alternate revenue stream, he said:
“Look, where would I rather have Gbets spending their marketing budget? Here with us on a big raceday or in the mainstream media and other platforms? That’s no question and they also have a diverse customer base who in turn will be exposed to the big race. And we are keen to give them and their customers a memorable experience.”
Gbets branch in Port Shepstone
Scott said that the monopoly perception cast on the operator of the tote was not correct and he and his management team fully grasped the concept that any opposition and rivalry was good for horseracing and for the consumer.
“Competition is good for the customer. It keeps us all on our toes. And let’s face it, today the consumer can’t be tied down to a brand unless the all-round service is up to scratch. Mr X can be sitting in a Betting World or Hollywood outlet and using his mobile to have a bet on his Gbets account – or vice versa. The acceptance that it is only service and value that is going to bring loyalty requires a mature and realistic approach to our marketing and sales.”
He said that with the departure of Sansui, who had sponsored the Summer Cup for the first time in 2009, the time was ripe to reinvent the premier day as a desirable entertainment destination.
1955 Summer Cup winner Casbah
“Our goal is to build the Summer Cup raceday to the level of an event that will be desired by a range of sponsors. The Met down at Kenilworth has shown that sponsors can enjoy benefitting from the exposure of a major racing event, without necessarily being the headline brand on the day. And horseracing is still a strong brand, besides the negativity prevailing. Life, business and markets is about cycles. Believe me, the sun will shine tomorrow. And the Gbets Gauteng Summer Cup is one of the few People’s Races where there is no age restriction. So the day really belongs to all, big and small. We hope to see you all there!” he said.
This was the lead story in our SP Digest – please click on the image below for more!
