'We have to make racing more exciting' - RCA chief issues warning for year ahead

Racecourse Association chief executive David Armstrong has warned that racing needs to become "more exciting" to attract a new audience.

He cited the need for innovation in a Racing Post Big Read on Sunday that asked industry figures what they expected and hoped 2022 would bring.

"We need to make changes to make things better and to appeal to a new, younger audience," Armstrong said. "We have to make racing more exciting.

"Covid has obviously stalled innovation but we've been pretty staid in our thinking for a number of years.

"There is an opportunity to innovate much more and we're also getting ideas from bookmakers about where that innovation could come. I would particularly love to see what else we could do with Sundays."

Armstrong fears the gambling review could have a major impact on racing this year and said: "Much of the industry's workload is going to dominated by our responses to the white paper, which should come in the first quarter of the year. Alongside that, there is going to be ongoing debate about levy reform and when it can be reviewed.

"I'm awaiting the white paper with some trepidation. That said, we have developed good communication channels with the gambling review team and will work hard to make sure the government understands the issues."

Rishi Persad: 'Funding is going to continue to plague racing'Credit: Edward Whitaker

ITV presenter Rishi Persad is notably pessimistic and warned: "I fear things are going to have to get worse before they get better – and I do think things will get worse through 2022.

"The sport is constantly addressing well-documented issues and dealing with the symptoms of what is wrong. Those symptoms will come and go unless the illness itself is treated.

"The funding of the sport is going to continue to plague racing this year, as will the fixture list and field sizes. As we are some way off treating the root cause of those problems, I think we can expect more of the same. In fact, I think through 2021 we moved further away from getting to the root cause.

"Prize-money is awful yet the fixture list remains bloated. A simple solution would appear to be reducing the number of fixtures and spreading the money across fewer meetings, yet there seems to be a clamour in some parts of the industry for more, not less."

Read more from industry figures on their thoughts on the year ahead in the Big Read, available online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Click here to sign up.

More to read:

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