Five mins with…Brian Morris of Racing Post
This month's quickfire Q&A comes courtesy of Brian Morris, head of betting for Racing Post
Q: What makes Racing Post a great partner for affiliates?
There are probably three key factors that make the Racing Post a great partner. Firstly, the heritage of the Racing Post brand, and the authoritative content we provide daily, both combine to give us a huge reach within the UK and Ireland. Secondly, across the business, we put a lot of work into understanding our customers and the racing and sports content they enjoy, which means they enjoy their experience and keep coming back to Racing Post, which further drives our daily audience. Finally, we are keen to be one of the leading affiliates in the industry, both in terms of compliance but also in terms of working very closely with our partners to maximise the benefits for all sides. The Racing Post has been instrumental in establishing the recently formed Responsible Affiliates in Gambling (RAIG) group, which further serves to demonstrate our commitment to our partners and customers.
Q: What do enjoy most about your job?
The Racing Post is generally an excellent place to work. Personally, as a fan of most sports, but particularly horse and greyhound racing, the Racing Post gives me the opportunity to watch plenty of racing under the guise of market research! Also, I do enjoy betting myself, which I think helps in my job, as I usually approach the review of any betting content or offers from the mind of a punter rather than a purely commercial viewpoint.
Picture: iStock.com/Sportlibrary
Q: If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring affiliate manager, what would it be?
Obviously the industry, especially in the UK and Ireland, has been undergoing massive change. As I see it, the future star performers in this industry will be fully and transparently compliant and develop strong relationships with their key partners.
Q: Who would play you in the movie about your life?
Most likely an underrated and underpaid actor! If they can’t be located, then I’ve been told Steve Carrell.
Q: What’s your karaoke song of choice?
The Gambler by Kenny Rogers is always the nap, especially if you’ve backed a winner.
Q: Which one thing can’t you live without?
Everyone probably says it, but my mobile phone commands an unhealthy amount of my time, and I could never leave the house without it!
Picture: iStock.com/Kirill Smyslov
Q: Who would you most like to be stuck in an elevator with
I’ve always been a huge fan of John F Kennedy and what he achieved, and what he could have achieved, so given this question is aspirational, then I would probably choose him.
Picture: iStock.com/Lya_Cattel
Q: Where would you time travel to and why?
I have always been intrigued by Biff Tannen in Back to the Future with his Sports Almanac, so I would probably time travel back to yesterday morning with a copy of today’s Racing Post!
Q: What is your favourite TV programme?
The Sopranos is probably the best of all time but more recently I have enjoyed Killing Eve.
Q: What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
Overpriced craft beers.
Picture: iStock.com/ClaudeMic
Q: If you won the lottery, what would you spend the money on?
Assuming I couldn’t spend it all on craft beers, then I would probably buy a large string of average horses, and spend my time travelling to midweek race meetings watching them run! Oh, and I would give some to my family and charity of course.
Q: Name one place everyone should visit before they die.
Las Vegas is probably a bit cliché even for this magazine, but it really is a strange experience and cross section of the American dream, so it would have to be there for me.
Brian Morris has worked at Racing Post for the past 10 years. Seeing the company transition from a daily newspaper to a large multimedia content hub, he has been head of betting for the last four years.