Background:
The 2007 Emirates Melbourne Cup was preceded by gloomy expectations of the impact of equine influenza and its effect on the nation's horse racing industries. To maximise the hype and excitement of the Melbourne Cup, Tabcorp capitalised on the time honoured tradition of the Melbourne Cup office sweep through the online medium.
Research had shown that the relevance and participation of the Melbourne Cup sweep had been in decline for some years, however no one had brought the humble sweep into the 21st Century.
Through Alpha Salmon's technical development expertise, My Cup Sweep was born (www.mycupsweep.com.au).
Solution:
My Cup Sweep offered the ultimate solution for office sweep's nationwide allowing organisers to create and manage an unlimited number of sweeps. Based on the traditional 'out of the hat' sweep, sweep organisers could create different denominations of sweeps and set different weightings for first, second, third and last places. Organisers then emailed friends, family and workmates a simple link inviting them to take part in their Melbourne Cup sweep online. Once players registered and choose the sweep amount and selected the number of runners they wanted in the race, automated emails were sent to them indicating which horse/s are assigned. Contained in the email was the jockey silks, jockey name, some easy to understand racing 'form' and the latest betting prices with the TAB.
Comprehensive reporting tools were available to organisers who could track the payment record as well as which runner(s) each player had drawn.
Immediately after the conclusion of the race, the system dispatched an email notification to all players notifying them of the race winners and the winners of each of the sweeps they'd been a part of.
The site also offered unique prizes such as winning a trip to Conrad Jupiters on the Gold Coast. As an additional incentive players who opened TAB betting account via the My Cup Sweep website received a $20 deposit bonus.
Results:
Incredibly three runners were scratched on race day and due to extensive planning the system was able to accommodate these unexpected changes in procedure.
My Cup Sweep attracted over 4,500 sweep organisers and more than 16,000 players registered. Each player took an average of 3 runners in the race.
On that day itself, 160 new TAB accounts were opened and organiser and player feedback was extremely positive.
After all, it is the only three minute sporting event in the world that stops a nation.