Behind the scenes: how Virgin Bet’s ESG-led strategy launched horseracing’s Women’s Day

As the 4/1 Kingston James pulled clear inside the final furlong of the Virgin Bet Open National Hunt Flat Race at Ayr last weekend, the crowd began to swell. The Lucinda Russell-trained five-year-old had raced in second throughout the two-mile battle, before entering the home straight and blitzing the competition to bring an end to the inaugural Virgin Bet ‘Women’s Day’ at Ayr Racecourse. And while the racing action suckered the punters in just before 1.30pm, and kept their eyes glued amid the swirling Scottish wind, the day was a culmination of months of work behind the scenes.

‘Women’s Day’, in essence, is the most public activation for Virgin Bet’s new ‘A Good Bet’ brand proposition. The LiveScore Group-owned operator is looking to tap the engaging nature of ESG and CSR in its sponsorship and used its relationship with Ayr as a jumping-off point.

The bookmaker and the racecourse are now in their third year of working together, so the activation on Scotland’s West Coast made perfect sense. The challenge, as with any activation, is coaxing the idea through inception to delivery – and the brand awareness, engagement and other KPIs that will, hopefully, come forth in the future.

Shifting narrative

Shifting the narrative from horseracing’s traditional, and somewhat outdated, ‘Ladies’ Day’ events into a Women’s Day is both symbolic and strategic. If you can cast your mind back to not that long ago, before England’s Lionesses were household names, top flight women’s football clubs in England were still called ‘Ladies’. That shift in language, while small to some, played a part in the wider shift to greater respect and professionalisation of women’s football in the UK.

In a change from Ladies’ Day to Women’s Day, there is a recognition of this. And while on the surface it may seem innocuous to some, there is a need to listen to lived experiences and engage with relevant voices on topics that pertinently relate to them, with the company sourcing both professional and personal feedback from women to reinforce the project’s importance.

Tying in the launch of the activation to Virgin Bet’s ESG-led ‘A Good Bet’ brand proposition made perfect sense for LiveScore’s marketing director Ric Leask. He explains: “The team had come up with a campaign for Virgin Bet which really sits within the ethos of the Virgin brand and what our customers want. ‘A Good Bet’ is about celebrating a bet with safety at its core, key sports events and achievements and also how we can do that while giving back to the community.

“‘A Good Bet’ came about from us collaborating with the brand, PR and agency teams to showcase our commitment to accessibility in sport. We looked at the data and the ideas that born from what matters most to the team. The much-deserved surge in the celebration of women’s sport on the global sport is no secret. Given that a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion are core to our company and we knew we wanted to bring this to life.”

The event also saw Virgin Bet partner with Ayrshire Cancer Support and WalkSafe, an app developed by Emma Kay after her lived experience of travelling alone to/from events as a woman, as part of that promotion.

Prior to the racing action, panels were hosted championing women in horseracing and the wider industry, with Kay featuring alongside jockey Charlotte Jones, trainer Harriet Graham and Scottish Racing CEO Delly Innes. The panels, in a box overlooking the finishing post, were well attended as those involved gave their insights into women’s progression in the sport and what actionable efforts can be taken.

When tackling a subject such as improving diversity in a sport, the delivery of the message has to come from a genuine position. Brand ambassadors are chosen on their ability to reach audiences and resonate, driving consumers to a specific product. In the case of the Women’s Day launch, Virgin Bet elected to partner with sports presenter Natalie Pike as the face of the activation, in both a public-facing position and as host for the panels. Pike, who herself has faced challenges as she transitioned into her career in sports, was a fit that allowed the operator to tap into mass popularity while retaining its authentic edge. Pike, who also works as a matchday presenter for Manchester City, spoke to EGR about the reasoning behind choosing to work with Virgin Bet.

She says: “It resonated with me as a woman that works in sport. I’m all about inclusivity, all about equality, all about promoting the idea that sport is for everybody. Racing genuinely is for everybody. You can have incredible technical knowledge, or you can just come and enjoy the day with your friends. I love that it is so inclusive.

“When I started working in racing, not for one second have I ever felt doubted because I’m a woman. And you can’t say that in other sports. So as soon as I heard about the idea of taking it from Ladies’ Day to a more modern Women’s Day event, I thought it was wonderful.

“That kind of reimagining of this day where we can come in and be safe, be welcomed and be equal. That’s who I am to my core. I’m about promoting equality and inclusivity, and that’s why working on this with Virgin Bet is such a good fit” Pike adds.

Pushing ahead

And while Pike’s lived experience puts her in a well-placed position to front the campaign, inclusivity has a way to go in racing. According to a study from the University of Liverpool, just 3% of jockeys in National Hunt races over a 20-year period in Britain were female. Additionally, data from the Racecourse Association in 2020 showed just 36% of all pre-sale tickets for racedays across Britain are for women. Furthermore, as per a British Horseracing Authority report last year, there are only 63 active female jockeys in the UK, compared to 363 men.

But, there are also positives. Data from ITV showed the 2022 Grand National had an exact 50/50 audience split, while leading lights like Rachael Blackmore and Hollie Doyle are significant role models.

Essentially, the event and activation, while positive in an initial burst, must now be considered an inflection point for wider strategy moving forwards. Leask explains: “Virgin Bet wants to highlight how we can celebrate people and create opportunities for other women in the future to be involved.

“I think customers look for their brands to have values and what they stand for. If you don’t get that part of your overall marketing brand strategy, I think you’re going to fail. It’s something that has been fundamental from day one; it’s not just a tick box exercise.”

With the event at Ayr forming part of Virgin Bet’s ‘A Good Bet’ strategy, Leask confirms the proposition has seen smaller activations at other racing events including increased charity donation and prizes, but the Women’s Day at Ayr acted as the largest event to date. He highlights the activation will now act as a platform for the ‘A Good Bet’ strategy to be pushed to a wider audience.

On that point, Pike suggests that events focusing on women and minorities will pave the way for future engagement with the sport. The ambassador suggests: “We can keep doing these events, and we keep rolling these Women’s Days out across the country and make them a great starting point to celebrate women in the industry and for the women who want to come to racing.

“Maybe for whatever reason, these women didn’t feel like they could attend and then we put on a Women’s event and all of a sudden, they come and they enjoy it and they feel welcomed.

“The key thing is that this one’s successful. Hopefully we can make it a big annual thing at Ayr as well, where women look forward to coming to this day of racing.”

There are also, of course, more meta concerns around the state of UK horseracing. Affordability checks have been pointed to as a potential death knell for the sport, with some estimates pegging the losses at a quarter of a million pounds over the next five years, while operators’ offers and promotions have shrunk to a portion of the size they once were. However, horseracing remains the UK’s second-most-attended spectator sport, and the launch of Premier Racedays earlier this year is hoped to inject some life and excitement back into proceedings.

For Leask, there is a fundamental, symbiotic relationship between the sport and the operators, one which, despite the pressures faced on both sides of the fence, should endure.

Leask explains: “I think it’s hard on horseracing and I think it’s posing significant challenges to the sportsbook operators as well. On top of the proposed regulatory changes, the increased costs around data feeds are obviously impacting on how a lot of operators are working. You see some operators removing the industry standard Best Odds Guaranteed and reducing their promotional offerings because of the impact on margins. Despite this, I still think you can’t really be in the UK sports betting market without supporting horseracing. I think it’s a fundamental piece of what UK sports betting customers still look for.”

In terms of looking ahead, Leask notes some potential frustrations in the short term, but points towards the likes of Blackmore becoming the first woman to win The Grand National back in 2021 as sparks to ignite a new audience.

He continues: “You’ve seen Rachael Blackmore come in and achieve the success that she has; I think moments like these can really pique the interest in the sport and open it up to a whole new audience.

“We are entering a changing period in the UK for both the sport and the betting industry, however we are an adaptable industry, and initiatives such as our Women’s Day sponsorship at Ayr will show our support of horseracing and help open it to a new and wider audience.”

There are, it seems, challenges abound. But progression is being made. British racing recently unveiled the Diversity in Racing Advisory Group (DiRAG) to be chaired by Scottish Racing Academy CEO Dr Eleanor Boden, and the Jockey Club named Baroness Dido Harding as the group’s senior steward in December, making her the first woman to hold the role in the club’s near-300-year history. Activations such as Women’s Day must also not be a stopgap or drop in ocean as alluded to by Pike. There is a need for a holistic approach for diversity, equity and inclusion, and while there is a way to go, actionable, tangible evidence suggests that desire and drive for change is out there.