The survey aimed to understand how millennials spend their free time and what may influence or deter them from visiting Canterbury Park. Key findings include: 55% of millennials surveyed do not attend Canterbury Park and 84% attend 1 time or less per year. Millennials primarily rely on peers (80%) and social media (49%) for entertainment recommendations. Those who do attend go to watch or bet on horse races. 58% have never bet on a live horse race. Millennials prefer online and video resources to learn about horse race betting. Risk of betting does not deter millennials, but unfamiliarity with betting on horse races does. Millennials are attracted to Canterbury Park through social media and friends.

2. Executive Summary

3. Research Objective
The research objective is broken down into two segments:
● Determine how millennials
spend their free time
● Develop a better
understanding of what may
influence or deter them from
going to Canterbury Park

4. Methodology
● A survey was produced to collect relevant data in order to build and
support the marketing decisions of Canterbury Park. The online survey
was accessible through mobile and desktop website. Participants of the
survey followed a link from our posting on social media, email and word of
mouth.

5. Summary and Key Findings
● A significant population of millennials in our study do not attend Canterbury Park (55%)
and a high majority attend one time or less per year (84%).

6. Summary and Key Findings
● The target market depends primarily on their peers for recommendations on
entertainment (80%) and it is closely followed by social media (49%).

7. Summary and Key Findings
● Millennials who do attend Canterbury are going to watch the horse races (36%) and/or
to bet on the races (29%).

8. Summary and Key Findings
● 58% of millennials who completed the survey have never bet on a live horse race before.

9. Summary and Key Findings
● Millennials would prefer to learn more about horse race betting via online and video
resources.

10. Conclusions and Recommendations
● What deters millennials from Canterbury
Park is the unfamiliarity of betting on horse
races.
● Risk involved in betting does not deter
millennials from visiting Canterbury Park.
● Millennials were attracted to Canterbury
Park through social media and friends.

11. Conclusions and Recommendations
● Most millennials have never bet before. The best way to teach
them would be providing a betting “how to” page or creating a
video they can watch on Canterbury’s website.
● When targeting millennials, it is best to use social media and
more modern means for marketing in general. Old avenues still
reach millennials therefore it is still worth keeping things such as
radio/TV and billboards.
● Encourage people to share about their experiences at
Canterbury Park through word of mouth and social media.
● The message being pushed in advertising should be centered on
racing itself given that the other attractions did not interest
millennials as much.

12. Full Report

13. Introduction
Canterbury Park has expressed an interest in learning how to acquire a
greater number of returning millennial guests . Their current customer base
consists of an older generation and they requested research in order to
understand how they may be a more relevant and prominent brand towards
millennials.

14. Research Methods and Procedures
● A survey was produced to collect relevant data in order to build and support the marketing decisions of
Canterbury Park. The online survey was accessible through mobile and desktop website. The participants of
the survey followed a link from our posting on social media, email and word of mouth.
● This research was conducted using a descriptive design. We targeted millennials in Minnesota and set a goal of
200 responses. Data was collected through a snowball/convenience methodology. Using Qualtrics, we
constructed an online survey which was shared on Facebook and through word of mouth and email.
● The survey was initially constructed by our group with the intent of outlining the basics of what we wanted to
know. A draft of our questionnaire was then shared with both Canterbury Park and Professor David Harman.
Revisions were made based off of the feedback and critique of both Professor Harman and Canterbury Park
and the questionnaire was updated.
● Once the questionnaire was completed, we selected who would share the survey when and where. The survey
was shared on each of our personal Facebook Pages along with the various class pages for the University of
St. Thomas. We shared the survey in two waves, one before Thanksgiving break and one after.

15. Data Analysis and Findings
● Both age and residency were used with
the intent of ensuring the data collected
only consisted of millennials who lived in
Minnesota. No analysis occurred beyond
filtering the data collected.
● Both the locations and ages can still be
used for further analysis at a later time if
desired

16. Data Analysis and Findings
● Our findings show that our population for our survey
has a mean age of 22 which was our intended
target market.
● The data on the upper left indicates that the
majority of the survey participants have not bet at a
live horse racing track before.
● The data on the lower left indicates that well over
50% of the survey participants do not attend
Canterbury. 84% attends Canterbury one time or
less on a yearly basis.

17. Data Analysis and Findings
● The majority of millennials are aware of
Canterbury through their peers’
recommendations.
● Secondly, millennials received
impressions and brand exposure of
Canterbury through social media.
● It’s surprising to see exposure of
Canterbury from older styles of marketing
such as Billboards and Radio/TV to still be
relevant to a young crowd.

18. Data Analysis and Findings
● The survey results show that the primary
reasons for millennial attendance are
watching and betting on the races,
respectively.
● We can see that Live Music isn’t pulling
as many people compared to everything
else offered. Using this Canterbury may
consider reallocating resources away from
this category and into other avenues.

19. Data Analysis and Findings
● The majority of respondents prefer to learn
about horse racing online and/or with videos.
● Currently, Canterbury only offers one-on-
one, brochures and seminars (the less
desirable options according to the
respondents).

20. Data Analysis and Findings
● There were no
correlations significant
enough to make any
meaningful conclusions

21. Data Analysis and Findings
● The significance is not strong enough to
make any meaningful conclusions. We
originally predicted these two behaviors
would go hand in hand. Our data does
not necessarily say the same.

22. Data Analysis and Findings
● The data suggests that that 98% of
survey participants strongly or
somewhat agree that they are open
to new experiences.
● A strong majority of our survey
participants somewhat agreed that
they typically take risks.

23. Conclusions
● What deters millennials from canterbury park is the unfamiliarity of betting on horse
races. Most millennials had never bet before and did not have a good understanding of
how to bet causing them to pick other options for entertainment.
● We found nothing to suggest the risk involved in betting deters millennials from visiting
Canterbury Park.
● Millennials were attracted to Canterbury Park through social media and friends.

24. Recommendations
● Most millennials have never bet before. The best way to teach them would be providing a
betting how to page or creating a video they can watch on Canterbury’s website. The current
methods for learning how to bet were ranked last in the questionnaire. This would be a great
place to readdress channels for educating visitors.
● When targeting millennials, it is best to use social media and more modern means for
marketing in general. Old avenues still reach millennials therefore it is still worth keeping
things such as radio/TV and billboards.
● Encourage people to share about their experiences at Canterbury Park through word of
mouth and social media. Consider pushing event invites towards millennials so that they see
friends are attending Canterbury
● The message being pushed in advertising should be centered on racing itself given that the
other attractions did not interest millennials as much.

25. Limitations
● Limited time and resources available.
● Snowball/Convenience methodology limited to our friend groups and
connections
● Request to complete survey was not seen by the Facebook user's intended
● Low motivation to complete the survey with no incentive
● College students and millennials did not take the survey seriously which lead
to irrelevant and goofy comments
● Our reach went beyond the state of Minnesota and out of the country

26. Appendix
1. Select your gender
○ Male
○ Female
○ Prefer not to say
2. How old are you
○ _______
3. What is the level of your education?
○ Some high school
○ High school diploma
○ Some college
○ College degree
4. Where do you live during the summer months?
○ City _____
○ State _____

27. Appendix
4. On average, how much do you spend on entertainment per week?
○ $0-20
○ $21-50
○ $51-100
○ $101+
5. How far are you willing to drive for entertainment?
○ 0-19 Miles
○ 20-49 Miles
○ 50+ Miles
6. I am open to new experiences
○ Strongly agree
○ Somewhat agree
○ Neither agree nor disagree
○ Somewhat disagree
○ Strongly disagree

28. Appendix
7. I typically take risks
○ Strongly agree
○ Somewhat agree
○ Neither agree nor disagree
○ Somewhat disagree
○ Strongly disagree
8. How have you heard of canterbury park before? (Check all that apply)
○ Billboards
○ Social Media
○ Radio/TV
○ Peers
○ News Articles
○ Never heard of Canterbury Park
○ Other ____
9. What have you heard of Canterbury Park?
○ ______________

29. Appendix
10.Have you ever been to a live horse racing track before?
○ Yes
○ No
11.How frequently do you attend Canterbury Park per year for live racing?
○ Never
○ 1 time
○ 2-4 times
○ 5+ times
12.Why did you spend your night at Canterbury Park? (Check all that apply)
○ Food and drink specials
○ Watching the horse races
○ Betting on the races
○ Live music
○ Casino
○ Other _____
○ Not applicable

30. Appendix
13. I have an understanding of how to bet on horse racing.
○ Strongly agree
○ Somewhat agree
○ Neither agree nor disagree
○ Somewhat disagree
○ Strongly disagree
14.If you understood live horse racing better, would you attend more races?
○ Yes
○ No
15.How would you prefer to learn more about horse racing? (Rank each below)
○ One-on-one
○ Brochures
○ Online
○ Seminar
○ Videos
○ Other ______

31. Appendix Q10 Answers
● Been there for Warped Tour
● Blackjack and poker. Horse races
● Casino
● Casino and Horse racing
● Casino, various races
● Concerts and horse racing
● Dog/Horse racing
● Dollar night
● Everything
● Fun experience
● Fun place to spend weekends
● Fun place, horse racing, gamblimg, card casino, variety races, paul allen
● Fun, gambling
● Fun, run down, great fireworks
● Gambling
● Gambling and Booze and Horses
● Horce Races, Gambling
● Horse Race Track
● horse races
● Horse races
● Horses
● Horses
● Horses
● Horses and concerts
● Horses and other gambling. It's tight
● Horses?
● I go there all the time so I literally know everything
about it
● I have been there & it is fun!
● I have heard that after about 3 hours there it turns
into a smaller version of the society from Mad Max.
Resources are quickly depleted, social groups are
defined by who has what. At first the trades are
reasonable and everyone works together, yet
sooner r later someone because greedy and
attempts to cheat the system of honor. The groups
are forced to further their descent into a post-
apocalyptic dystopia by declaring Canterbury Park
its own suburban police state.... So all in all I've
heard that it's grat for a weekend outing with the
family.
● I heard it's great, but I worked there and would beg
to differ.
● It is a race track in/near Shakopee?
● It is a racing track that allows betting on horses.
● it is an awesome place to intern, people have fun
● It's a casino that also has a racetrack for horses
● It's a famous horse race track that is apart of the
triple crown events.

32. Appendix Q10 Answers
● It's a fun night to bet on horse racing
● It's a fun place to go and watch horse races
● It's a horse racing place
● It's a horse racing track
● It's a horse track with a casino
● It's a race track
● It's a racetrack and a fun time
● it's fun
● It's fun
● It's fun
● It's fun.
● Its a ton of fun
● Large area used for events.
● Live horse racing
● Love the horse races
● Poker, blackjack, horse racing
● Puppy dog races
● Racehorse Park near Myatic Lake
● Races and Gambling
● Races/ soundset
● Racetrack, casino, & event space
● Racing, gambling
● Racing, music, cards
● That it is fun
● That it's fun
● That it's fun but sucks to be a marketing intern there
● There are horse races
● They have horse races
● They have horse racing and people wear big hats
● They hold music festivals and horse racing
● They race horses
● Warped Tour
● We go every Thursday for buck night in the summder
● Who doesn't know about Canterbury park.
● You can bet on horses or go to the casino

33. Appendix Q13 “other” Answers
● Derby Days Event
● Friends
● Girls
● Haven't been
● I go to events held there by external parties, like the Junk Bonanza
● Just a fun way to spend the day and dress up
● Might be drunk
● Parking lot for Golf events
● Part of a group that owns a horse
● Puppy dog races
● The Parking lot for the Ryder cup and PGA championship
● Used to go - invited by an owner of a horse racing
● Work functions
● Working

34. Appendix Q16 “other” Answers
● 4
● A weekend instructional class
provided by Denzel Washington
and Julius Ceasar
● Face to face with Betsy Tozier
● Facebook
● Friends
● I couldn't get this part to work
● I would prefer not to derive
entertainment from animals
● Least effort possible
● n/a