Spectator Attendance
    Does anyone have any ideas on how to improve spectator attendance. We will putting on our third pull at the county fair this year. There had never been a pull in the county until 2 years ago. Our crowd is good but we want to make it better. Any ideas would be appreciated.

i dont know whar part of the country you are in but it takes a while when you start up your pull i started 16 years ago with the elkhart county fair we do have good crows we have it on friday evening at 5pm
so figure it out have good prize money will help all so

I think the evenings is good, people are done from work and are able to come. Advertising ahead of time is important so people can plan ahead. Contact your local news paper and radio stations for advertising. Put up news letters in restraunts or on placemats. Put up good money to bring in good teams for the spectators.

On Friday, February 6, 2009 at 07:53 AM Ben wrote:
I think the evenings is good, people are done from work and are able to come. Advertising ahead of time is important so people can plan ahead. Contact your local news paper and radio stations for advertising. Put up news letters in restraunts or on placemats. Put up good money to bring in good teams for the spectators.

Spectaor Attendance, Selling the sport of Horse Pulling to fair goers is a hard sell. Money, Location ,Size of your Fair,Timing,and other attractions at the fair play a big roll in spectataor attendance. Next time you attend a fair try to figure what the average age of that crowd watching a pull, thats and indicator of what Horse Pulling promoters are facing. The cost of attending a fair for the average family is unbelievable,so they go where they can get the most entertainment for their dollar while spending what limited time they have. It seems that the Food Concessions,Mid Way Rides and Novelties are the big winners not the Fair Promoters or Exhibitors. Most small Town or County fairs don,t have the money it takes to advertise,so they cater to fast action attractions like demo-derbys,monster drag racing etc, Because thats where the money is.If you notice Horse pulls and Ox pull rings are always pushed as far back to the fairgrounds as possible ,put on the back burner so to speak, Timing of the event,Horse and Ox pulling are usually the week nites at small fairs because the week ends are saved for the fast action attractions.If you try to get a sponsor and they have a choice of their company name in the horse arena or the tractor/truck pulling track you know where they go.it all boils down to money, How much available to advertise, How much left for premiums, and often times you don,t draw the best teams with high purses if other pulls are going on. What is needed is more communication with the fairs and the horse pullers. The pullers if they don,t have the time and I believe most don,t, they should select some people with interest to do promoting for them.The problem we are facing is that the person you sat with last year is not there, and we are not getting anyone to fill that vacant seat. thats life , From a 25+year Fair Director and Horse and Ox pulling fan.

The pulls where we have had good luck with the crowd growing from year to year are the pulls where there is a possibility of the spectators interacting with the animals and pullers. The people are interested in the animals and an up close view of the size and mass of the horses seems to be a real draw. The more open we as pullers are to interacting with the crowd, the better things go. Another necessity is a good announcer. An announcer that sells the product, getting the crowd excited at the right times, letting them know what they are seeing and playing up the amazing size, strength and the connection between driver and horses as well as keeping things entertaining during the down moments is essential. See rodeos as an example of the value of an announcer.

right on ryan!

ILL GIVE YOU A LITTLE MORE TRY IN SAT YOUR PULL THE SAME TIME AS THERE ARE OTHER HORSE EVENTS OK LIKE A RODE IN FRONT ARE BACK OF YOUR PULL 2 HOUR ARE 2IN A HALF A T THE MOST FOR THE PULL TO LAST IN YOU HAD BETTER DO THAT ARE YOU WILL LOSE YOUR CROWD
CHARLIE