Indecon Independent Strategic Review of Irish Greyhound Racing Stadia to Underpin a Viable Long Term Sustainable Industry Submitted to The Irish Greyhound Board Prepared by Indecon International Economic Consultants www.indecon.ie 27 November 2019 Disclaimer: This report is provided solely in connection with the consultancy project for the Irish Greyhound Board. Any liability Indecon will assume to the Irish Greyhound Board will be governed by specific liabilities, if any, as specified in a contract to be agreed between us. This report is provided on the basis that Indecon accepts no liability whether in contract tort (including negligence) or otherwise to the Irish Greyhound Board or to any other person in respect of this. Contents Page Executive Summary i 1 Introduction and Background 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background 1 1.3 Methodology 2 1.4 Structure of Report 4 1.5 Acknowledgements 5 2 Greyhound Racing Internationally 6 2.1 Introduction 6 2.2 Comparative Countries 6 2.3 Australia 6 2.4 Denmark 8 2.5 Great Britain 8 2.6 Hungary 10 2.7 New Zealand 10 2.8 United States 11 2.9 Summary of Key Findings 12 3 Location of Stadia, Access Arrangements and Other Sporting Facilities 13 3.1 Introduction 13 3.2 Location of Greyhound Stadia in Ireland 13 3.3 Population Catchment Areas for Greyhound Stadia 16 3.4 Access Arrangements 18 3.5 Competing Sporting Facilities 21 3.6 Summary of Findings 25 4 Attendance Levels and Racing Schedules 26 4.1 Introduction 26 4.2 Trends in Attendance 26 4.3 Analysis of Racing Schedules 30 4.4 Summary of Findings 33 5 Analysis of Breeders, Trainers and Owners 34 5.1 Introduction 34 5.2 Economic Impact of Greyhound Breeders, Trainers and Owners 34 5.3 Profile of Greyhound Breeders, Trainers and Owners 35 5.4 Availability of Breeders and Trainers 38 5.5 Track Usage by Breeders and Trainers 39 5.6 Summary of Findings 43 6 Assessment of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities 45 6.1 Introduction and Overview 45 6.2 Assessment of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities 45 6.3 Infrastructure Challenges Facing Stadia 70 6.4 Summary of Key Findings 71 Indecon Indecon Independent Strategic Review of Irish Greyhound Racing Stadia to Underpin a Viable Long Term Sustainable Industry Contents Page 7 Financial Sustainability of Each Stadium 73 7.1 Introduction 73 7.2 Demand Forecast Model 73 7.3 Scenarios of Operating Profit/Loss by Stadium 78 7.4 Summary of Key Findings 84 8 Recommendations for Radical Restructuring to Underpin Sustainable Industry Footprint 85 8.1 Introduction 85 8.2 Summary of Key Findings 85 8.3 Conclusions 91 8.4 Recommendations 93 Indecon Indecon Independent Strategic Review of Irish Greyhound Racing Stadia to Underpin a Viable Long Term Sustainable Industry Tables, Figures & Boxes Page Table 2.1: Number of Greyhound Tracks by Country 6 Table 2.2: Greyhound Stadia in Australia 7 Table 2.3: Number of Greyhound Stadia in Great Britain, 2008 and 2019 10 Table 2.4: Greyhound Stadia in New Zealand 11 Table 2.5: Attendance at New Zealand Greyhound Racing Meetings 11 Table 2.6: Number of Greyhound Tracks in the US by State (end-2018) 12 Table 3.1: Time Distance Between Each Stadium 15 Table 3.2: Population Catchment Areas for Irish Greyhound Stadia (000s) 17 Table 3.3: Nearest Greyhound Stadium to Each Stadia (Driving Distance) 18 Table 3.4: Nearest Motorway or Dual Carriageway Class Road to Each Stadia (Driving Distance) 20 Table 3.5: Access Arrangements at Irish Greyhound Stadia, 2019 21 Table 3.6: Alternate Sporting Facilities Within 20km of Greyhound Stadia not in Cities 22 Table 3.7: Illustrative Examples of Alternate Sporting Facilities Within 20K of Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadia 23 Table 3.8: Examples of Alternate Sporting Facilities Within 20km of IGB Greyhound Stadia in Cities 24 Table 4.1: Change in Attendance by Stadia, 2015-2018 27 Table 4.2: Change in Attendance by Stadia, Jan-Oct 2018 to Jan-Oct 2019 and Attendance Scenario in 2019 28 Table 4.3: Challenges Facing Stadia (Unweighted Average Response) 29 Table 4.4: Falling Numbers of Spectators – Response by Stadium 29 Table 4.5: Racing Activity in Greyhound Stadia, 2018 30 Table 4.6: Percentage Change in Racing Activity in Greyhound Stadia from 2015 to 2018 31 Table 4.7: Greyhound Race Meeting Schedule 32 Table 5.1: Employment Generated by the Greyhound Industry, 2016 34 Table 5.2: Respondents Disaggregated by Number of Dogs Owned/Trained, 2015-2020 36 Table 5.3: Challenges Facing Stadia (Unweighted Average Response) 38 Table 5.4: Views of Greyhound Stadium Owners Breeders and Trainers on How Significant a Challenge Absence of Sufficient Greyhounds/Breeders Poses to Stadia 39 Table 5.5: Tracks Used by Respondents on a Regular Basis 40 Table 5.6: Tracks Regularly Used by Respondents (Percentages of Totals for Each Stadium) 41 Table 5.7: Summary of Usage of Greyhound Stadia 42 Table 6.1: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Cork) 46 Table 6.2: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Cork) 46 Table 6.3: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Galway) 47 Table 6.4: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Galway) 48 Table 6.5: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Limerick) 49 Table 6.6: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Limerick) 49 Table 6.7: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Mullingar) 50 Table 6.8: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Mullingar) 51 Table 6.9: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Newbridge) 52 Table 6.10: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Newbridge) 52 Indecon Indecon Independent Strategic Review of Irish Greyhound Racing Stadia to Underpin a Viable Long Term Sustainable Industry Tables, Figures & Boxes Page Table 6.11: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Shelbourne Park) 53 Table 6.12: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Shelbourne Park) 54 Table 6.13: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Tralee) 55 Table 6.14: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Tralee) 55 Table 6.15: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Waterford) 56 Table 6.16: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Waterford) 57 Table 6.17: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Youghal) 58 Table 6.18: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Youghal) 58 Table 6.19: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Clonmel) 59 Table 6.20: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Clonmel) 60 Table 6.21: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Dundalk) 61 Table 6.22: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Dundalk) 61 Table 6.23: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Enniscorthy) 62 Table 6.24: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Enniscorthy) 63 Table 6.25: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Kilkenny) 64 Table 6.26: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Kilkenny) 64 Table 6.27: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Lifford) 65 Table 6.28: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Lifford) 66 Table 6.29: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Longford) 67 Table 6.30: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Longford) 67 Table 6.31: Ranking of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Thurles) 68 Table 6.32: Summary Assessment of Standard of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Thurles) 69 Table 6.33: Challenges Facing Stadia (Unweighted Average Response) 70 Table 6.34: Stadia Managers/IGB Assessment of Capital Requirements 70 Table 6.35: Inadequate Racing Facilities – Response by Stadium 71 Table 6.36: Summary of Architectural Assessment of Infrastructure, Services and Facilities (Number of Stadia) 72 Table 7.1: Attendance vs Time Simple Regression and Forecast 74 Table 7.2: Attendance vs Time Random Effects Regression 75 Table 7.3: Extended Random Effects Model 75 Table 7.4: Mixed Model Regression Results 76 Table 7.5: Summary of regression results 77 Table 7.6: Scenarios for Estimating Operating Profit/Loss at Greyhound Stadia 78 Table 7.7: Operating Profit/Loss at Irish Stadia in 2018 Taking Account of Net Tote 79 Table 7.8: Scenarios for Operating Profit and Loss at Irish Greyhound Stadia, 2022 80 Table 7.9: Scenarios for Operating Profit/Loss per Number of Runners at Irish Greyhound Stadia, 2022 81 Table 7.10: Scenarios for Operating Profit and Loss per 20km Radius Catchment Population (Thousands) at Irish Greyhound Stadia, 2022 82 Table 7.11: Challenges Facing Stadia (Unweighted Average Response) 83 Indecon Indecon Independent Strategic Review of Irish Greyhound Racing Stadia to Underpin a Viable Long Term Sustainable Industry Tables, Figures & Boxes Page Table 7.12: Financial Viability – Response by Stadium 83 Table 8.1: Summary of Assessments - Infrastructure 86 Table 8.2: Summary of Assessments - Financial Performance and Outlook 87 Table 8.3: Summary of Assessments – Financial Performance in Comparative Context 88 Table 8.4: Actual (2018) and Scenarios (2022) Attendance in Greyhound Stadia in Ireland 89 Table 8.5: Summary Assessment 90 Table 8.6: Summary of Conclusions 91 Table 8.7: Summary of Recommendations