Racing ahead: Music Plus Sport sets the pace
Affordable ticket prices have formed a crucial part of the secret sauce for Music Plus Sport’s first decade in business, directors Simon Halden and Emma Rogerson tell IQ.
Since 2014, the UK-based promoter, which specialises in staging large-scale concerts at sporting events, has collaborated with horse racing organisation The Jockey Club to produce more than 170 shows at racecourses across the country, attracting more than 1.8 million fans.
Artists to have performed gigs at its racing and music nights have included Kylie Minogue, Bryan Adams, Olly Murs, Tom Jones, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Texas and Little Mix, who take to the stage once the evening’s sporting action has concluded – bringing big name acts to venues outside the traditional touring markets.
“The market has changed incredibly and it’s been very exciting and challenging,” says Music Plus Sport co-founder and CEO Halden. “Post Covid, the competition has got crazy. Back in the day, we were pretty much unchallenged at Newmarket, you used to have seven or eight shows every summer and there were no exclusivity issues. Now, there are so many opportunities with other sporting venues and it has got very competitive – accessing artists now is quite hard for the smaller promoter.
“But we set out to establish Jockey Club venues as bona fide music venues, and I think we can put a tick in that box. We’ve had some cracking artists over the years and have focused on getting our production right, delivering a quality service and a great show to our consumers, but also a great environment for artists. The venues just work very well for music.”
“The key to it is offering a quality product at a really reasonable price”
This summer’s series pulled in 135,000 attendees, and Halden believes that providing a cost-effective alternative to arena and stadium shows has helped it establish itself in the marketplace. Ticket prices for the gigs have gone up only 6% since 2021.
“The key to it is offering a quality product at a really reasonable price,” says Halden. “In 2014, our average ticket price was about £42. And here we are 10 years later, and our average ticket price is about £45, which for some great entertainment at racing, followed by a top class act, is a cracking delivery, frankly.
“Don’t get me wrong, our costs have gone up exponentially like everybody else’s in the industry, but we’ve tried very hard not to pass those on and absorb a lot of those increases ourselves. But with the way in which our venues work, you’ve got a lot of infrastructure there already. It’s not like we’re having to put up a greenfield site.”
Newmarket Racecourses was recently named the 15th biggest “stadium” in the UK based on gross ticket revenue, according to Pollstar data.
“At Newmarket, for instance, we can amortise the cost of the staging, etc, across seven or eight shows, although margins decrease as a consequence, of course,” continues Halden.
“Every year more venues pop up, but we still manage to sell out a number of shows because we remain competitive in our ticket price,” adds marketing director Rogerson, “because that’s what’s going to get people to come to our venue over spending £100 at an arena.”
“You don’t want some niche artist where you only know their last song – you want hits from the very first song”
Shows already on sale for 2025 include Ministry of Sound Ibiza Anthems ft. Ellie Sax at Warwick Racecourse (10 May), Red Rum Club at Aintree (16 May), Scouting For Girls at Market Rasen (13 June), Ministry of Sound Classical at Newmarket (20 June), Jamie Webster at Haydock Park (21 June), Richard Ashcroft at Newmarket (27 June), Texas at Sandown Park (7 August) and Becky Hill at Haydock Park (8 August).
“You’ve got to have hits that people want to sing along to,” says Rogerson of the firm’s booking policy. “After a day at the races, most people have had a few drinks and you don’t want some niche artist where you only know their last song – you want hits from the very first song.
“For us, mix of genre is really important. We try and get a mix of charting pop acts like Becky Hill or Bastille, and then heritage acts like Tom Jones or we’ve just announced Richard Ashcroft. We also do a lot of DJ and dance nights. There’s something for everyone, while not deterring the racing fans, and 2025 is looking great so far. We’re really pleased with everything we’ve announced in the run up to Christmas and sales have been great.”
Despite teaming with AEG Presents and later Live Nation in its early years, Music Plus Sport is now firmly an independent venture.
“We just felt that we needed to be brave and stand alone and do what we wanted to do,” suggests Halden. “There was never an ownership structure; it was a collaboration. They helped us with booking, but we wanted to take that in-house. Although with anyone we work with, it is massive collaboration.”
“Kylie was our breakthrough. When we put Kylie on in 2015, I think that made people in the music industry sit up”
Halden considers there to have been a perception change among artists and their teams when it comes to performing at horse racing nights.
“Kylie was our breakthrough,” recalls Halden. “When we put Kylie on in 2015, I think that made people in the music industry sit up a bit, and since then, we’ve had some huge acts like George Ezra, who did two shows just as his Staying at Tamara’s album came out, and he sold out in under three days.
“We’ve also had Kaiser Chiefs, and they found an audience they wouldn’t normally attract. At, say, Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, it is not a normal music venue crowd, so there was a new audience they could sell their their music to.
“Standing at the side of the stage when you’ve got a very happy crowd and a very happy artist – and actually, it’s profitable – there ain’t a much better feeling than that, I can tell you.”
Becky Hill’s Newmarket bow in August was the hitmaker’s biggest British headline concert to date, with 18,000 general admission tickets sold. Rogerson points to research that indicates that music was by far the main driver of ticket sales for the events, which have successfully introduced new audiences to the sport.
“It’s definitely artist-driven,” she says. “When we announce an act, on average, 65% of [ticket] bookers have never been to a racecourse before. But because it’s two forms of entertainment in one ticket, they don’t just turn up for the concert. The majority will arrive within the first two races, which is amazing, because that’s what our partners want. As much as it’s a revenue stream, they also want to convert more racegoers, so it’s win-win.
“And when we get acts like Becky Hill, who her biggest ever headline show, we found that that was an even higher percentage of people who’d never been to racing before, and [a lot of them] have rebooked for next year, which is amazing.”
“We will certainly be looking overseas in the future to look at where we can expand and develop the model”
Music Plus Sport has staged concerts at other outdoor venues such as castles and has also ventured into other sports such as rugby, golf, motor racing and cricket.
“Our USP is that we try and make those venues sweat,” says Halden. “If you look at rugby grounds and cricket grounds, they want to find incremental earnings and we can offer that. I always think, quite honestly, we punch above our weight quite a bit, actually, for a small sort of niche [promoter].”
“We like to say we’re small but mighty,” smiles Rogerson.
Halden, however, winces at the memory of a Cricket Live event at the Ageas Bowl (now Utilita Bowl) in Southampton the best part of a decade ago, which didn’t go quite to plan.
“It was a one-day game between Hampshire and Middlesex, and we had Boyzone [to play afterwards],” he remembers. “Basically, Middlesex bowled out Hampshire and the whole game was over by 12 o’clock while the band were still on the aeroplane flying over. We had to get a guy to DJ at the last minute and put him on the stage, and he played for about three and a half hours!”
Music Plus Sport has recently branched out into private concerts – often for people involved in the sporting industry (“We’ve done some great shows with some big artists,” offers Halden).
“We’re always out there looking at new opportunities, and we will certainly be looking overseas in the future to look at where we can expand and develop the model that we have successfully introduced here,” concludes Halden.
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Ex-Coda MD Claire Horseman heads to Coalition
Claire Horseman, the former managing director of Coda Agency, has joined Coalition Talent as a non-executive director.
Horseman, formerly head of marketing at Columbia Records UK, left Coda last summer after four years at the helm. She told IQ in August she was “having a few conversations” about next steps but was enjoying spending time with her children and had no intention on “rushing in to my next move”.
London-based Coalition, formed in 1995, represents artists, radio DJs and TV personalities, including Sara Cox, Charli XCX, Pixie Lott, Nick Grimshaw, Trevor Nelson, Edith Bowman, Scott Mills, the Wombats, the Hoosiers and Kodaline, and also delivers events for third-party brands. From 2014–2015 it was part of The Agency Group (now UTA).
“I’ve watched Guy [Robinson, founder and CEO] and the Coalition team build a strong and innovative business that has really impressed me,” comments Horseman. “I’m looking forward to playing a key role in the overall strategy to grow the business further.”
“I’m looking forward to playing a key role in the overall strategy to grow the business further”
She is joined at Coalition by Anthony Norris and Owen Kent, who join from Eleven 11 Events/Music Plus Sport as managing director and creative director, respectively, both reporting directly to Robinson.
“Having worked closely with Guy and the Coalition team as a talent buyer, I have first-hand experience that they are smart operators,” says Kent. “After discussing their long-term strategy, there was a great opportunity that I wanted to be a part of. I’ll be working with the current portfolio and expanding into new territories while creating new products to take to market.”
Robinson adds: “Coalition is successfully embracing a 360 vision in the way we work with our talent and brands, and with the addition of these three truly inspiring professionals we are now stronger than ever. From talent building, delivering and promoting live events, through to brand creation and management, I’m extremely proud to welcome Anthony, Claire and Owen to our dynamic entrepreneurial team.”
Coalition last November partnered with Ministry of Sound for a range of new live events and brand partnerships.
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