Phumelela Gaming and Leisure will be hosting a conference in Cape Town on 25 January of the Asia Africa Tote Association (AATA) entitled “Embracing A Brave New World”.
Horseracing globally is facing a number of challenges from competitive alternative gaming options such as sports betting, and ever-increasing costs of running the sport of Horse Racing.
This conference is a meeting of minds of leaders in the various racing jurisdictions within the region to discuss opportunities and issues of mutual concern.
AATA is modelled on the European Pari Mutuel Association and was officially formed in May 2014, aiming to strengthen ties between leading wagering operators in the region.
The full members are based in Africa and Australasia and they include the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Tabcorp Holdings Limited, Automatic Systems Limited, Macau Jockey Club, New Zealand Racing Board, Phumelela Gaming and Leisure, Racing and Wagering Western Australia, Saigon Racing Club and Singapore Turf Club
The aims of AATA are to advance members’ common interests on issues such as technology advancements in totalisator and wagering operations, commingling standards and the harmonisation of betting rules, sustainable funding of the racing industry, combating illegal and unauthorised wagering operators and customer and marketing initiatives.
Every year AATA members have come together to formally discuss these issues and this year the AATA Annual Conference is to be hosted in Cape Town at Kenilworth Racecourse.
A strong focus will be placed on maintaining the sustainability of racing in an ever-changing environment.
“The funding of the sport is under severe pressure in most racing jurisdictions around the world,” explained John Stuart, International Executive Director for Phumelela.
“Tote turnovers in most instances are declining and when you combine this with the rising costs of staging horseracing and betting thereon, then racing’s business model is under threat.”
There will be a number of guest speakers at the conference. Keynote guest speaker is Dion Chang, the founder of Flux Trends, who will talk about the ‘business of disruption’.
“Our research shows that disruption comes in waves, especially the knock on effect of connected industries. Disruption comes at you from the most unlikely sources,” said Chang.
“In today’s challenging business climate, simply keeping your head above water is a badge of honour, but it’s no longer enough.”
Mark Steinhobel, Founder and Chairman of VWV ( the company that produced the opening and closing events at the 2010 World Cup in SA) will discuss ways of unlocking the new consumers of the millennial generation through ‘experiential marketing’.
There will be a number of panel discussion including what targeting new audiences means for horseracing. Richard Brooke, Chairman of GBI, will question how one creates a sustainable horseracing industry.
The conference will end with panel session on how Racing needs to extract the true value from its Intellectual Property.
The theme of Embracing a Brave New World was triggered by Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel which envisaged a dystopian future for the world.
Horse Racing is a very traditional business which goes back centuries and much of it is still modelled on the old club mentality.
“The goal of the AATA Conference is to find a way to keep horse racing relevant, competitive and sustainable without sacrificing its tradition”, said AATA Chairman Richard Cheung.
