HRV CEO talks challenges and plans with Hall and Butt

Innovation, being laser-focused and broadening the support base are keys to strengthening harness racing in Victoria, Matt Isaacs has outlined in a radio interview with Gareth Hall and leading reinsman Anthony Butt.

Harness Racing Victoria’s CEO joined SENTrack’s Facing The Breeze segment this morning to speak to last week’s cost-saving announcement with Hall and Butt, the president of the Victorian Trainers and Drivers’ Association.

Butt quizzed Isaacs about how “we can get back to being the great sport we once” were and the chief executive stressed “we still are a great sport”.

He said harness racing in Victoria faced an “immediate financial challenge that means we need to have that level of intervention”, which would have “a huge impact for our participant base, and that’s not lost on me”.

“We’re working closely with Ants and other stakeholders in the industry to ensure our cost-savings measures across prizemoney and the broader cost-saving target of $6 million is worked through,” Isaacs said.

He said while we were “cost-focused at the moment” there were opportunities to “pivot back to a level of growth”.

They included through vision rights renegotiation, which could enable “our product to be more visible where people are betting”, and a new sponsorship arrangement.

“Ultimately what’s going to set us up is the ability to be able to drive participation through a new audience,” he said.

That included expanding the sport’s reach through TrotsVision and on free-to-air showcase nights.

“I think our sport is incredibly exciting,” Isaacs said. “Under lights it’s spectacular, so we need to be able to all work together as an industry to showcase our sport to the broader Victorian community and entertain through our sport … and engage people through our product.”

Isaacs said the announced changes at HRV was to get back to “what are the core things that we need to focus on here for harness racing in Victoria”.

“That needs to be around racing and the innovation around racing, so that encompasses ownership, wagering, media, our race programming, integrity – without integrity we don’t have a sport, the welfare of our horses, the welfare of our participants; and ultimately having a laser focus on the returns back to participants. That’s our mission and the mission I’m leading.”

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by Michael Howard for Harness Racing Victoria