The Breeders’ Cup, one of Thoroughbred racing’s most prestigious international events, announced today details of a new brand awareness campaign, A Breed Apart, supported by a multi-million dollar digital and broadcast media buy to promote the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, scheduled to take place on Nov. 6 and 7 at the iconic Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.
Officially launched earlier this month, the campaign represents Breeders’ Cup’s largest-ever investment in digital advertising, targeting sports bettors, daily fantasy players and casual fans of horse racing. The creative will run across trusted and influential national media and advertising platforms, including NBC Sports, iHeart Media, Yahoo! Sports, Amobee, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. The campaign :30 commercial can be viewed here and a sample print advertisement is attached.
The media plan projects an estimate of 170+ million impressions throughout the five-week promotion period leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, which will be broadcast live on NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, as well as on BreedersCup.com and the Official Breeders’ Cup App. Boston-based CTP, Breeders’ Cup’s long-time advertising agency, created and produced the campaign and planned and placed the media buy.
“The quality of racing and excitement of the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships is unmatched and A Breed Apart is our way of inviting sports fans, and reminding racing fans, to watch and bet on this great international event from home,” said Justin McDonald, Senior Vice-President of Marketing at Breeders’ Cup.
“The campaign is built off consumer research that indicates there is substantial opportunity for us to build a bigger audience for Breeders’ Cup. Our planning began well in advance of the COVID-19 pandemic and, while clearly consumer appetites for sports and wagering content have been affected, we are fortunate to be able to bring it to market despite the challenges,” said McDonald. “This campaign builds off our longstanding, valued partnership with NBC Sports and is important to Breeders’ Cup’s many stakeholders including our nominators, our sponsors and the owners and breeders who generously support our racing programs.”
Longines, FanDuel, TVG, Maker’s Mark, Lexus, Jackson Family Wines and Big Ass Fans are among Breeders’ Cup’s corporate partners. Earlier this year, Breeders’ Cup announced that FanDuel will be the title sponsor of this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Beyond the campaign, Breeders’ Cup has also made substantial investments to provide viewers of the 2020 World Championships with an immersive experience. This year’s live broadcast will leverage the most robust on-site production ever for a horse racing event, with official partner NBC having access to 80 cameras for its coverage as opposed to last year’s 45. The feed will incorporate live streams from a number of advanced technologies, including the all-new Contender Cam, which allows fans to watch up to 14 of their favorite horses at once.
A Breed Apart comes on the heels of the Still. Running. Strong. campaign introduced in May 2020, when major tracks first started to reopen after COVID-19 related closures. Launched in partnership with The Jockey Club, with contributions from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, TVG, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ Association, the campaign ran for five weeks on NBC Sports, FOX Sports and across targeted digital and social channels, generating almost 100 million impressions during its run.
To learn more about the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, please visit BreedersCup.com/2020. Breeders’ Cup is also committed to alleviating the impacts of the health crisis on the horse racing community and other industry stakeholders in need. To learn more about Breeders’ Cup’s ongoing support of the community and to contribute to the organization’s COVID-19 relief efforts, please visit BreedersCup.com/Donate.
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