Business of Sport: Brand Blackmore looks primed to jump clear of €1m
A walking idol: Rachael Blackmore congratulated by young fans at Clonmel on Tuesday Pic: Healy Racing.
Unless you happen to be the greatest female jockey in history, Rebecca Evans is unlikely to represent you.
Evans is a sports agent who has staked all of her chips on Rachael Blackmore — after leaving Line Up Sports last year, where she represented Conor Murray, Kellie Harrington and Greg O’Shea.
The media-shy Dubliner and sister of Ireland’s World Cup hockey star, Nikki Evans, is MD of VOS Sport, a boutique athlete representation and sports marketing agency which, for now, looks after one very valuable asset.
Evans, who is based in London, manages all of Rachael Blackmore’s commercial interests, which include headline partner Dornan Engineering as well as The Jockey Club, KPMG, Tipperary Fresh, Audi and the Lyrath Estate.
She also juggles Blackmore’s charitable endeavours, which include the Irish Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day and the Festina Lente Equestrian Learning Centre.
Like any shrewd agent, Evans knows her place and refuses to do interviews, nor will she speculate on how much her star client’s commercial pulling power is set to reach in the coming year.
The Pitch has assessed, with the help of the best Irish and British experts, that Blackmore’s worth could reach seven figures by the time Cheltenham 2023 rolls around, with at least €800k all but assured.
The real value is away from the track, where she will earn as much as six times her prize money earnings — which is an eight per cent cut of any winning purse.
She and VOS will decide in the coming weeks which offers are a perfect fit for the perfect sports star, but one who is uncomfortable with the celebrity interview whirl and is more at home on the gallops than in the studio.
One piece of significant business was done just before Cheltenham by Rebecca Evans with KPMG, a six-figure sum with bonus payments attached.
Throw in a permanent betting sponsor, a sportswear, fashion and drinks partner, and even a tech or telecommunications sponsor, and Rachael’s value may soar above what any jump jockey has earned commercially while racing.
According to Jill Downey, Head of Sponsorship at Core, Rachael Blackmore can conservatively expect to earn €800k this year, and depending on how much work she wants to put into activations, that will rise to seven figures.
“For Rachael it’s all about the amount of time she wants to devote to commercial activity and the amount of appearances she wants to make, which can be difficult given the time pressures jockeys are under,” explained Downey.
“A lot will also depend on the big brands which want to get involved in the sport — racing can be a tough sport to understand commercially. Brands who do get involved usually have a key decision-maker who has a passion for racing — that’s not always the case in other sports.
“I would say that conservatively she can expect to earn around €800k, and I don’t think upwards of €1m is out of the question.”
According to Johnno Spence, renowned commercial agent who looks after the business affairs of flat sensation Hollie Doyle and Hayley Turner, Blackmore’s Irishness doesn’t dent her UK appeal and up to 50% of her earnings could come from British partners.
“Outside of traditional betting company and racing brands, Rachael and the likes of Hollie, who is a great comparison albeit on the flat, represent a wider appeal because of who they are,” said Spence.
“What the female riders give you is something that you don’t get from male jockeys — and that is far cleaner brands, more appealing-to-consumer brands.”
Blackmore has worked with Bet Victor and Paddy Power previously, with the latter for its Cheltenham 2019 eye-catching activation, which heralded Rachael Blackmore the jockey, and not Rachael Blackmore the female jockey.
A 25 ft ‘statue’ of the rider was unveiled with the tag-line: ‘Some jockeys have big balls — others are just great jockeys.’ The fact that Rachael is a woman is certainly an unavoidable appeal for sponsors.
What will be interesting is if the Gold Cup’s €1.85m sponsor Boodles makes an offer, particularly as the high-end Bond Street and Grafton Street jeweller is a brand which has been attached to racing for more than a century.
In an interview with The Pitch, Boodles MD Michael Wainwright said even he had underappreciated the commercial potential of such a winner in ‘Year One’ of its two-year sponsorship — until it happened.
“I still can’t believe it, in fact I wish I had anticipated just how much a Rachael Blackmore win would be for the Gold Cup and for Boodles,” he explained.
“That I saw it with my own eyes and how such a win could transcend the entire sport was just incredible.”
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ONE of the cleverest deals in sport this year comes from Dromoland Castle, which forked out €500k to host this year’s 2022 Women’s Irish Open.
The payment to the Ladies European Tour is believed to be a tenth of the price that Mount Juliet paid to host the Men’s equivalent, and comes before the Co. Clare resort even had a sponsor in the bag.
That will change before the weekend when Dromoland decides on the merits of two rival sponsors battling for the headline partnership, with one forced to settle for the second tier.
The Women’s Irish Open is a quirky commercial event, where the Ladies European Tour runs the tournament but the host is free to seek its own sponsorships, insuring quick return of investment for host venues.
Even better news for the resort is that more value will be added to the prestigious tournament if Ireland’s greatest female golfer announces that she will play.
So far Leona Maguire has not committed to playing in her home Open, but it’s a little early in the season and it’s unlikely she will say no.
Mark Nolan, Managing Director of the resort told The Pitch this week: “We are hopeful but there’s no commitment, and equally we would not like this to become the Leona show.
“This is a fabulous event for women’s golf and for women’s sport and even if Leona is here or not, it will offer so much for women’s golf and sport in general.”
Nolan is confident that the resort will take up its second year rights to host the event in 2023, and perhaps beyond.
“We don’t look at this as a one-hit wonder."
The Women’s Irish Open takes place at Dromoland Castle from September 22-25, after a 10-year absence from the Irish sporting calendar.
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Volleyball Ireland (VLY) has introduced a wave of measures to welcome Ukrainian Refugees to Ireland by waiving player, coach and referee license fees to play and officiate in competition. They will also be exempt from VLY’s registration deadline of last Thursday (March 17) and the organisation will provide free training wear and any equipment that’s needed to help Ukrainians participate. General Manager of Volleyball Ireland Gary Stewart said: “Volleyball is a popular sport in Ukraine and we want to play a small role to welcome and help our new friends integrate into the community and widen their support network.”
The single biggest betting event in US sports is set to see $3.1 billion waged on US colleges and universities March Madness. The tournament is currently in the middle of three weeks of competition and has been a traditional staple for punters across the US even before relaxed betting laws now permitted gambling across 30 states. With the opening up of huge markets across the US online and in-person bets are already up 55% on last year’s March Madness.
Sport Ireland has announced an initiative to get children used to a high-performance environment by opening its doors for its 2022 Easter Kids Camps from April 11-22. The campus will allow children to use world-class facilities “matched only by the fun atmosphere and quality coaching”.
Further details available by emailing contactus@sportireland.ie
