Melbourne Cup 2008Once a year, here in Australia, we celebrate the Melbourne Cup. It’s pretty much a horse race and horses and jockeys come from all around the world to take part in the race and attempt to win the large prize money and the prestige that goes with winning.

For the past couple of years, in some States, the big day has been declared an official public holiday so everyone gets the day off – although maybe not for those who work in the retail industries as I am sure the shops will stay open.

Since in previous years we all went to work on that day, we would celebrate the Melbourne Cup at work. Depending on where you worked it meant that you would take some time out during the day for a long lunch either at work or at a restaurant and then you would watch the race at work (someone would bring in a tv).  Lots of sweepstakes would be run and someone would probably go across the road to the local TAB (the betting agent here in Australia) and make a few bets on behalf of everyone else back at work.

It was a lot of fun and of course with the food, drinks and the betting, lots of money would be spent.

The public holiday has changed all of that. With everyone at home there are no more work parties. This means a lot less money is being spent and businesses are complaining.

I can see why. In the past for a work Melbourne Cup lunch for around 8-10 people we would buy two or three cooked chickens, pre-made salads, bread, other assorted meats, a couple of bottles of orange juice (no alcohol – we were working after all, well maybe a bottle of bubbly), a desert of some sort, paper plates and utensils and so on.

Now this was just for our team. The organization I worked for had hundreds of teams all doing the same thing. So in our organization alone, thousands of dollars would be spent and that doesn’t include the amount of money spent betting on the actual race.

Someone I know told me recently that when he worked in a bottle shop the busiest days of the year were Melbourne Cup day and Christmas. He mentioned that on Melbourne Cup day they could make as much as $100,000 on alcohol alone.

Being at home means that the majority of these people won’t even bother preparing a Melbourne Cup lunch nor make a bet on the race. Most people are not gamblers by nature and only bet on the day because it is the Melbourne Cup. And they only bother betting because someone in their work team is going over to the TAB anyway so they may as well put a couple of dollars in for a bit of fun.

So Melbourne Cup just won’t be the same and I think it will lose some of the excitement. I will still watch the race, but there will be no Melbourne Cup lunch nor will I have a bet.

It will be interesting to see if the retail industry have enough clout to change it.

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