Picture: Xander Spies (left) is the brains behind Green Lightning Racing (via Meta)
Green Lightning Subcription-Based Service, That Conveys The Feeling of Ownership, Could Be Good For Racing
Trainer Corne Spies’ and his son Xander have come up with a groundbreaking new way of getting involved in horseracing through a monthly subscription.
Green Lightning Racing is intended to make it easier and more affordable for fans to be immediately involved, enabling them to encounter what the “ownership experience” is in the sport of horse racing.
Xander, who is a qualified lawyer and current director of the Racehorse Owners Association, can’t shake off his love for horseracing and explained, “Young people are interested in horseracing, but just don’t know how to access it and are unsure how to partake in it. So what I generally do is I invite a bunch of friends and show them what racing is about, teach them how to have a bet, teach them how to read form, take them down to the track to hear the horses running on the ground not far away, it’s an experience in itself and it kind of gets people hooked to the extent that they constantly asking me when are we going racing again. So I believe if you start at grass roots level one can really rebuild and rejuvenate racing to a certain extent, but it is a multi-faceted effort and it needs to come from every part of the industry and this is one of the reasons I took on the opportunity to formulate this new concept. We began thinking how can we make racing more accessible to the general racing public, to people who are passionate about horses, who enjoy watching horses and not only enjoy the betting side, but actually follow the horses as if they are sports stars and the jockeys as well to a certain extent. In SA’s past we have had horses like Wolf Power, Igugu, Horse Chestnut … people remember those horse’s names with reverence and fondness. So we thought why don’t we start an idea that is based on a sports team and that is where the logo we use comes from, it borrows from American sports teams as it stands out and becomes recognisable. So we then formed a concept called Green Lightning whereby we want to give involvement to the racing public in a way that is new and fresh and that hasn’t been tested before.”
Corne said the concept had similarities to the huge syndicates in Australia and America etc that gave an an opportunity to those who could not normally afford it to be able to experience racing from an insider point of view.
However, there is one big difference.
Corne said, “With syndication you are tied into a horse. So you could be involved in a horse called Winx which could be great … but you could be involved in Meerkat, which is not that great! Green Lightning is the owner of the horses, but people can get behind the team on a subscription basis and participate and experience what ownership feels like, and the model means the horse team is being replenished all the time. Hopefully with the growth of the subscriber base, the base of the horses will grow and be replenished regularly. You will be tied in to all of these horses and there is not just one who could be a dud and then you have done your money. You can be involved for as long as you subscribe and could possibly be part of something big in SA. We have big racing teams and owners who have a lot of horses running and this concept gives the layman on the street the chance of being part of something similar.”
Xander added, “It is important to note there are several caveats to be explained. This is purely a racing team you pay to be part of. Currently we have three in the team and the amount will grow as the subscriber base grows. The subscribers will earn a point equivalent of the prize money that the horses earn. So when Zoombomber earned R20,000, that money will be allocated to a separate fund and points will be allocated to each and every subscriber to a decimal factor. On the Patreon platform there is a piece that describes how it works. The points earned can be withdrawn by the subscribers after you have reached 250 points, which is equivalent of R250. So it works the same way, in that regard, as normal ownership. However, there is never a transfer of ownership … Green Lightning is the owner and uses the prize money earned to give the subsribers a service. It is almost like a club membership. That is the most simple part. The thing that might give people red flags is you can refer people. Let’s say I am a subscriber and I want to refer a friend, the service will give me a subscription referral code and I ask him or her to use that referral code when subscribing. For as long as that person is subscribed you earn 50 points per month. It is called affiliate marketing and is not multi-level marketing in any sense because that sounds like a pyramid scheme. So that could make it more attractive to people, because you are then not earning just from horses running, but also from referrals.”
Subscription to Green Lighning costs approximately R320 ($15 + VAT) per month.
It sounds like a fun way for fans to be involved and perhaps could lead to other such syndicates, which could add to the health and popularity of racing.
