(Edited press release)
Hello Race Fans, a horse racing fan education site launching later this year, has formed the Hello Race Fans Ad Network, bringing together independent horse racing sites into an advertising platform.
"Horse racing enthusiasts are always looking for ways to get more information on the game they love, and increasingly they are turning to the Internet," said Dana Byerly, co-founder of Hello Race Fans. "It seemed like a logical step to tie the growing number of excellent independent sites together, making it easier for advertisers looking to reach those fans."
The Hello Race Fans Ad Network will share revenue with its network participants, which include blogs, forums, news aggregators, and stable sites. "As an independent publisher, my site will benefit from the stronger negotiating position brought by the Hello Race Fans Ad Network, leaving me more time to focus on creating content," said Teresa Genaro of Brooklyn Backstretch.
A portion of revenues generated by the Hello Race Fans Ad Network will fund the creation of the fan education site.
Peter Rotondo, vice president of media and entertainment for the Breeders' Cup said, "The creation of the Hello Race Fans Ad Network is an excellent first step in raising the needed dollars to fund and develop a fan education site. A fresh fan education site by passionate creators is exactly what's needed to grow our sport."
Hello Race Fans is working closely with Adify, a vertical ad network management and media services company, to deliver the service. "While publishers have the freedom to determine how to monetize their sites, they can leverage the Hello Race Fans Network to be the backbone of their efforts," Byerly explained.
Hello Race Fans will also be donating ad space to racing charities.
"We want to make it easy for people to find and help the organizations that work so hard on behalf of the industry,” said Byerly.
"ReRun is very grateful to Hello Race Fans for offering us free advertising space in their ad network," said Christine Orman, resource development manager for ReRun. "It's a wonderful way for us to gain more exposure and support, but also to inform race fans about the great work that many organizations around the country are doing to care for racehorses when their careers on the track are over. We are happy to be an inaugural part of such an innovative and forward-thinking initiative."