MSc Sports Business students visit the Grand National festival

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MSc Sport Business students attended the Grand National Festival on Thursday 12th April to experience a great day of racing as part of their Sports Operations and Events module.

Aintree Racecourse is the home of the Grand National which started in 1839 as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase and is now one of the most famous races in the world.  Randox Health took over sponsorship of the race in 2016, a position that was previously held by Crabbie’s.     

Students visited Aintree Racecourse prior to the race where they received a number of talks and were taken on a behind the scenes tour.  As part of the visit they were given an overview of strategy from the Regional Director of the Jockey Club, John Baker, insight into the complex operations and security processes involved in hosting the Grand National from the Head of Operations as well as a discussion on the welfare of horses and jockeys from the Clerk of the course. 

The hospitality, events and conferencing team also provided a presentation on their role in ensuring an excellent experience for visitors to the Grand National but also maximising year round usage of the site.

When students returned for the first day of The Grand National festival, they were able to see all they had learnt about staging a global sport event put into practice.   

Simeon Hartwig, MSc Sports Business student said about the experience, "The day we spent a day at Aintree prior to the grand national was brilliant as we heard how key management work to engage fans in different ways.  We also learnt about the history of the Grand National as well as information about the commercial side of it - the team was very informative and didnt hold back on details.

The race day itself was a brilliant experience as we were able to see what we had heard about in practice and witnessed how much the spectators engaged with the racing, betting and live music. It was also great seeing the horses on show before the race.

The experience taught me so much about the operations side of a mass sports event."