News Detail

Iffezheim, Germany, 22 April 2010 – In an initial press conference held today, Baden Racing, the new operator of the tradition-rich racecourse in Iffezheim (Baden-Baden), introduced its plans for the organisation, infrastructure, event programme and marketing of the course. Although the new start is actually planned for 2011, numerous measures are being implemented in time for the Great Festival Week at the end of August. The measures will help make the events in Iffezheim attractive once again and ensure long-term success.

Dr Andreas Jacobs, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Infront Sports & Media, said: “With Baden Racing and our highly professional team, we want to ring in a new era of horseracing in Iffezheim. Our goal is to offer attractive leisure events to the broadest range of visitors possible, and to develop a new world of experience around the sport. Everyone should feel comfortable at the racecourse.” Dr. Jacobs added: “At the same time, however, we will also optimise Iffezheim as a commercial product, so that it can fulfil the requirements posed by an international premium event.  In addition to new fan experiences, there are plans for other sport highlights, simplified betting, better integration of sponsors, investments in media production, as well as extensive renovation of the buildings.”

20-year lease concluded
Continued operation of the racecourse was secured last Thursday with the signing of a 20-year lease by the joint venture Baden Racing GmbH, the town of Iffezheim, Sparkasse Gaggenau Baden-Baden (a savings bank) and International Club e.V. Baden Racing GmbH officially takes over on 1 June 2010. Business operations have already begun under the direction of Andreas Tiedtke and Reinhardt Weinberger, who is also Managing Director at Infront Germany. The joint venture was established by the international sports marketing agency Infront Sports & Media (Zug, Switzerland), as majority shareholder, as well as the German companies DSV Deutscher Sportverlag GmbH (Cologne), Stars and Friends GmbH (Bad Harzburg) and weiss media GmbH (Meerbusch).

2010 racing programme announced
In the remainder of the 2010 business year, Baden Racing will host races during the Great Festival Week – from 28 August to 5 September – with the highlight being the Great Mercedes-Benz Award of Baden. The Grand Festival Week will be extended by one day to compensate for some cancelled races during the Spring Week. More race days will be held in October during the Sales & Racing Festival. The event is currently planned for 2 days (Sat./Sun.). A third race day may be added, depending on the marketing situation. All race days feature the usual number of races (8 to 10). In the long-term, the number of top races at the group level will be further increased in order to make the top-level sports programme even more attractive, as planned. The basic races should also continue to be attractive for racing enthusiasts.

The visitor is king in the sport of kings
Baden Racing will carry out five specific improvements in the areas of products/services for visitors and infrastructure in time for the Great Festival Week, which will positively promote the overall racing experience.

• Renovation of the large paddock terrace – new lounge: With around EUR 250,000 invested, this is a central measure to be taken during the first year of operations. The Schwarzwald terrace – the heart of the racing scene at Iffezheim racecourse – will be completely renovated to guarantee an attractive racing experience. In the rear area, a new lounge will be built so that visitors and their guests can follow both the races as well as what’s happening in the parade ring and unsaddling enclosure. In the lounge, visitors will be able to watch races from international racecourses in France and the UK.
• Media technology will be further expanded: In the future, television signals will feature slow-motion replays of exciting finishes, and images from a mobile camera. The images will provide additional highlights from the entire course, whether it’s the great favourite in the parade ring, cheering fans or when the horses enter the starting stalls – this means the audience can be there for all the decisive moments. The images will be broadcasted on-site in the Toto Hall, in the parade ring, and in the new visitor areas, as well as in betting locations throughout Germany.
• Iffezheim is to become more family-friendly thanks to a new Kids’ World: In addition to structural modifications and the urgently needed renovations, the children’s area will serve as a new central point for families. Moreover, renovation of the parent and children areas (changing areas), a child-friendly presentation of what goes on at a racecourse and professional child care ensure that both young and old can comfortably enjoy the races whenever they are held.
• Restore course safety: This is the motto for the urgently needed work on the course. To make Germany’s premium racecourse safe again for both horses and jockeys, the wooden rails on the straight will be replaced, as they have been partially destroyed.
• 75 other immediate measures: The list of urgent investments on a smaller scale is long. The measures range from restoring the stability of individual building areas and visual enhancement through to tearing down the old food stands; work began immediately after the lease was signed.

 

Andreas Tiedtke, Managing Director of Baden Racing, explains: “The visitors are at the centre of our plans, whether they are visitors, sports enthusiasts, families, owners or those who just want to relax.  In cooperation with the region, Baden Racing wants to create a common identification among all local residents that provides high-quality entertainment for viewers from near and far and which meets the expectations of each visitor.”

 

Marketing Offensive

Baden Racing also wants to take new marketing initiatives to ensure the long-term sustainable success of the racecourse. The planned marketing measures are aimed at visitors – in the form of Europe-wide advertising and PR activities on behalf of the events in Iffezheim – and particularly, at business clients.

 

New sponsors will be served by a more exclusive, four pillar marketing structure (Main Sponsor, Exclusive Partner, Premium Partner, Classic Partner), more professional support, and mutual cooperation in terms of commitment, as well as by hospitality opportunities with high-quality, sophisticated cuisine.

 

Moreover, in the future, certain name rights will be available, similar to those offered in other top sports. Options being considering include title sponsoring of the entire racecourse, naming rights to individual races, and covering individual locations such as the main terraces or paddock.

 

Reinhardt Weinberger, Managing Director of Infront Germany, commented: “Our new involvement with Baden Racing and the associated role of being the exclusive marketing partner of the international races Baden-Baden helps us further expand our most attractive rights portfolio with numerous top racing events. Baden-Baden is the gold-standard of German racing and can thus offer sponsors effective image transfer at the highest level. With 150,000 visitors annually, Iffezheim stands at the forefront of German racecourses. We see great potential to raise the events to a new commercial level, thanks to our international marketing expertise. Our goal is to create an most efficient communication platform for international, national and regional companies and brands.”

 

The third pillar of the plan includes expanding business from third-party events. The goal is to establish the Iffezheim racecourse as the leading venue for events catering for 60 to 20,000 visitors, even beyond the confines of racing sports.

 

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Peter Mühlfeit

Pressesprecher

Baden Racing GmbH

Tel. +49-176-17229315

presse baden-racing.com

www.baden-racing.com

Jörg Polzer
Associate Director, Communication & PR
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel. +41-41-723 15 15
press infrontsports.com

www.infrontsports.com