RACING Victoria chiefs will on Thursday unveil a strategic plan for the short-term future of the industry with a stark warning - unless the sport embraces major change it could fade to irrelevance.

MICHAEL LYNCH, in an 'exclusive' in THE AGE reports that in a flat wagering landscape, declining attendances and competition from new gambling operators and other sports is intensifying.

Racing officials are urging the industry to shrug off any inertia or complacency it might have and be prepared to consider major changes for the 2014-15 season and beyond.

These could include days when there is no racing at all - with Victoria allowing other states to corner the gambling market during the noon to 5pm period. Victoria may then program major meetings at night, so it can try to build on track attendances at a time when people are free to go out, and also boost gambling revenues when there is no other racing competition.

Night racing would also offer the opportunity to plug more easily into Asian and European wagering markets, delivering a dividend to the local sector.

It is understood that serious thought is being given to a revamping and shortening of the Melbourne autumn carnival - now marketed as the Festival of Racing - which traditionally runs from around Australia Day to the middle of March, when it culminates with the Australian Cup and Newmarket Handicap.

These fixtures will now be under threat from the multimillion-dollar upgrade to the Sydney carnival announced earlier this week, but local officials have been convinced, even before the NSW announcement, that this period needed a revamp.

Thought is being given to the creation of two or three ''Super Saturdays'' during that revamped period, the reasoning being that heightened quality will help boost track attendances and wagering turnover.

It is also clear that without continued wagering growth, the increase in prizemoney - which has grown by 18.5 per cent, from $133.6 million in 2007-08 to $158.4 million in 2012-13 - will not be sustained.

Racing officials are also looking to extend the concept of stand-alone country meetings as feature events on Saturdays. The Bendigo fixture, run the week after the Festival of Racing concludes, has been judged a success, and the belief is that it could be replicated elsewhere.

Racing is a notoriously conservative sport with a program and pattern sanctioned by history and tradition in which many participants are reluctant to embrace new ideas.

Racing officials are conscious of the need to preserve its unique position in the sporting calendar - particularly the wildly successful Melbourne spring racing carnival - and its historical role within Australian culture.

But they are also mindful of the need to grow fresh revenue streams and find new audiences at a time when national wagering growth on Victorian racing in the past 12 months was only up 0.1 per cent.

There has actually been a decline in racing's Victorian TAB market share in the past four years. The amount of cash wagered on racing compared to harness racing and greyhounds has fallen from 69 per cent of the TAB's turnover in 2009 to 67.64 per cent today.


STORY SOURCE: MELBOURNE AGE - FAIRFAX MEDIA