Racing Post Coverage of Hong Kong Racing a Key Component of Commingling Success

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Commingling has really picked up the pace since the British came on board, with last Sunday week’s HK$159.5 million in commingling turnover a new record and the British component of that was HK$108.1 million.

Last Sunday’s figure for Sprint Cup-Chairman’s Trophy day was lower but in the same ballpark and still very significant, and it is stating the obvious to suggest the record won’t hold for long at that level.

Commingling – the concept and process of punters placing bets on Hong Kong races in foreign countries and those bets being then channelled to the home pools in Hong Kong – is here to stay, and in ever-increasing numbers. For years, club officials have been suggesting that commingling could provide another five or six per cent of turnover annually, but it is exceeding all expectations.

Plenty of jurisdictions would be quite pleased with the British component alone as the turnover on a pretty standard meeting on April 2 (possibly including England itself).

Hong Kong Jockey Club to focus on customers, China and commingling in 2016-17, says chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges

We mentioned in this space a year ago, when the Jockey Club was talking about commingling becoming 10 per cent of turnover one day and its main growth sector, that it perhaps that begged the question: when does the level of commingling require the club to upgrade how it sees the English commentary side of its coverage?

Given that the overwhelming proportion of customers wanted the Chinese coverage, there was, historically, always a part of the club that saw the English coverage as a hangover from colonial days or a necessary evil. In any case, it was not the main priority.

The Chinese language coverage still speaks to the dog but the tail is wagging now and that HK$159.5 million figure was 11 per cent of the total pari-mutuel hold on that day – in effect, an extra race – and commingling is already a going concern of more than US$1.5 billion a year across 88 meetings.

A key component of the success of the commingling link to Great Britain has been having the UK Racing Post giving worthwhile coverage of Hong Kong race meetings to its customers, in a familiar format for the British punter, unlike Australia, for example, where media coverage is spotty and it shows up in the figures.

But the success of commingling also leans heavily on the English language presentation of the meeting.

Due at least in part to the Chinese and English coverage channels, for reasons of production, being bound together, we have heard various criticisms of the club’s simulcasts and even race day coverage.

Giving each coverage independence, no doubt, would be far less cost effective but at what point does the commingling turnover start to make separate channels look reasonable?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][bsf-info-box icon=”Defaults-envelope-o” icon_size=”32″ pos=”left”]For more information about Racing Post’s B2B services, contact us or browse more of b2b.racingpost.com.[/bsf-info-box][vc_column_text]Racing Post B2B caters for all digital content requirements across web, mobile, tablet and retail. But we are more than just a data provider – we enhance raw data with the best and most recognisable content authored by the biggest names in sports betting. Racing Post B2B offers an unrivalled worldwide content portfolio for bookmakers and media associations. Acknowledged throughout the racing and gaming industries, the Racing Post creates bespoke products suited to your audience that will enable your company to maximise profitability by offering unique data, editorial or multi-media solutions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]