Universal Saddles Up with Seabiscuit
Both Hollywood and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association are betting on a persnickety racehorse from the 1930s to jockey for box office success and spike interest in the sport.
Universal City, CA-based Universal Pictures on July 25 releases Seabiscuit, the story of a Depression-era horse as laid out in the best-selling eponymous book by Laura Hillenbrand. Tobey Maguire stars in the film.
“Many feel Bull Durham was a major attention driver to Minor League Baseball and we feel Seabiscuit can do the same and give horseracing much needed marketing support,” said Jamie Haydon, promotions manager at the Lexington, KY-based NTRA.
The NTRA this weekend wraps up a sweepstakes at www.ntra.com offering a trip to Los Angeles for the world premiere of the movie. Entries are also being taken at several NTRA-member racetracks, including Belmont Park, Del Mar and Emerald Downs.
The association decided early on that Seabiscuit would be a big part of the year’s marketing budget. Smith said the organization’s spending on the film is in the mid-six figures out of a $7 to $8 million marketing budget.
Universal is running ads during a making-of-the-movie hour-long documentary airing on ESPN 2 and NTRA is sponsoring a three-minute content piece that will run in Regal Cinema theaters nationwide. In four to six markets, the segment will plug local racetracks; fans bring along their movie ticket stubs for free track admission.
Other Universal promotional partners include Eastman Kodak Co., which has a broadcast campaign to plug its Black & White One Time Use camera planned. Carr’s Crackers will offer a free Movie Magic ticket to see the film with the purchase of three boxes of its crackers. P-O-P displays and a national FSI support.
Detroit-based General Motors’ Buick, which plays a role in the film, broke national TV spots around the Visa Triple Crown series in May.
Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser has a 25-market screening and in-bar program supported by radio promotions in the works. Meanwhile, Farnam Companies’ Horse Products is offering horse owners Seabiscuit apparel though a national promotion at 4,000 mass and specialty stores. Customers who buy two doses of Ivercare horse-deworming product receive either a Seabiscuit baseball hat or T-shirt or a $1 Ivercare rebate. Phoenix-based Farnam supplied Universal with period props for the film.
Elsewhere, Gourmet and Forbes magazines are offering private advance screening programs.
“All signs are pointing toward it being a hit,” said McKay Smith, the NTRA’s director of new media.
Sounds like a betting man.
