Under new management, Great Festival Week at Iffezheim achieved impressive, initial growth in betting revenues, sponsorship, media interest and television coverage

Zug, Switzerland / Iffezheim, Germany, 10 September 2010 – Baden Racing GmbH, majority-owned by the international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media, has made a great start as the operating company of Iffezheim, Germany’s premier race course. Great Festival Week, the highlight of Germany’s racing calendar, which ended last Sunday, delivered impressive results in terms of sponsorship, media coverage and betting.

The efforts taken throughout the last months, in order to implement professional management for the race course and convert the Great Festival Week into a top sports and entertainment event, are now paying off. The six days of racing — between Saturday 28 August and Sunday 5 September — saw more than 68,000 spectators at the course. On the last day, there were 20,000 spectators for the Great Mercedes-Benz Prize of Baden, the race with the highest prize money and the highlight of the week.

 

Media interest higher than expected
The upgrade of the Great Festival Week attracted media interest and also encouraged more television coverage. There were 120 media representatives from more than 10 countries accredited to the event and live broadcast coverage increased, with Hungarian Broadcaster Chello and the French racing channel Equidia showing races live. ZDF’s sports report on Sunday carried an extensive review of the Great Mercedes-Benz Preis von Baden, watched by more than a million viewers - a market share of 8.5 percent. The South German TV channel SWR also covered the Great Mercedes-Benz Prize in its regional News.

 

Sponsors very satisfied
The high visitor numbers and good media coverage are positive news for the sponsors involved. An intensive marketing campaign (due to the short lead time) and a new, more exclusive marketing hierarchy had helped to recruit a strong line up of sponsors, including strong brands such as Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (financial service provider), the tourism region Tirol and main sponsor Mercedes-Benz.

 

“Baden Racing delivered a really impressive performance for Iffezheim and we appreciated the care with which we were treated”, said Joachim Ersing, Director of the Mercedes-Benz subsidiary Baden-Baden, at the press conference. “In addition to attractive opportunities for product presentation, hospitality is a key aspect of our sponsorship involvement. This year, we experienced increased interest from our clients and invited more than 200 guests throughout the Great Festival Week. The facilities provided by Baden Racing and its caterer Infront Hospitality were excellent.”

 

It was not just sponsors who gained from Infront Hospitality’s high standards of catering. Most of the catering kiosks at the venue were run by Infront’s subsidiary. The biggest hit was the traditional Race Course Breakfast from 7 am to 10 am, giving visitors an opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere of a great race course as it prepares for the day ahead.

 

Betting revenues – the key measure of success
In addition to media coverage, visitor numbers and sponsorship support, one of the key measures of a successful horse race meeting are betting revenues. Throughout the Great Festival Week, they represented a 20 per cent increase over the previous year, as a range of novelty bets offering high odds encouraged more people to take part and widened the appeal of the meeting. In total, around 4,9 million Euro flowed through the betting cash points.

 

A promising start for Baden Racing
Baden Racing GmbH is a new joint venture involving Infront, as majority shareholder, together with DSV Deutscher Sportverlag GmbH, Stars and Friends GmbH and Weiss media GmbH. It has a 20-year operating agreement to manage the famous course, which started on 1 June 2010. This year’s Great Festival Week was the first major test of the new management and the results are highly promising.

 

“We are well above our expectations in all areas – ticket sales, catering and betting particularly”, said Dr Andreas Jacobs, Infront’s Chairman and President of Baden Racing e.V. Iffezheim is already recapturing its status in international racing and has made a big step towards the objective of sustained profitability.

 

This good start has encouraged Baden Racing to extend the Sales & Racing Festival from 21-24 October 2010 from the planned two to three days of racing. Its highlight is the auction's most prestigious race in Germany, the Ferdinand Leisten Memorial with prize money of 200,000 Euro.

 

For further information, please contact:

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

 

Peter Mühlfeit
Press Officer
Baden Racing GmbH
Tel. +49-176-17229315
presse baden-racing.com
www.baden-racing.com