The trial of twilight meetings held between mid-January and the end of March has been a resounding success.

Data received from three major Australian wagering partners saw turnover of $22.3million across the 10 meetings in the twilight series, an average increase of 34.51% compared with the baseline figure, while TAB NZ turnover was $14.6m, an increase of 12.3%.  The increase in turnover was approximately $2million which, in effect is the equivalent of running two additional Thursday meetings in the New Zealand market.  

The twilight series trial was flagged in the NZTR Directions Paper released in October 2021 as an opportunity to enhance our wagering footprint by broadcasting into Australia at an appropriate time of day.

The initial advice from NZTR’s Australian wagering partners estimated an increase of around 15% in turnover could be expected, however with increase from 24.6% to 46.9% across three key Australian wagering partners that estimate was smashed when compared with baseline figures of the previous year.

The success of the trial has seen TAB NZ recommit their support for the inclusion of the twilight series in the 2022-23 racing calendar.

“As we stated when we introduced the trial, the primary focus of the twilight series was to drive greater wagering both locally and internationally, and we can now continue to build upon that success,” NZTR CEO Bruce Sharrock said.

“While we acknowledge that twilight meetings do impact our participants, especially trainers and their staff, this has to be balanced against the positives of increased turnover and the benefits that brings to the industry.  Continuing to look at ways to generate wagering revenue to the business will be a focus going forward.”

The finalised calendar for the 2022-23 racing season will be released on Friday 29 April.