Andrew Jones has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Racing Victoria (RV), as the racing sanctioning body looks to maintain momentum on the growth of the sport.
Moving forward, the new lead has detailed his key objective as to expand the fan base of racing in the state of Victoria, whilst also boosting revenues, social licence and investment in sustainability.
In order to achieve this goal, Jones plans to “work diligently” with Victorian racing clubs in addition to participants in the sport, government authorities and commercial and media partners.
He remarked: “I’m honoured to be invited to lead Racing Victoria in the next phase of its growth. Giles, his team and the industry as a whole have done a marvellous job through COVID and I’d like to start by recognising that.
Jones currently serves as Interim Chief Executive of Netball NSW, and has been working with RV and its clubs in a consultancy role in his position as CEO of The Killer Group.
This has seen the new hire cooperate with RV on the establishment of the Victorian Thoroughbred Racing Integrated Media Business (VTRIMB) and filing the position of Chief Executive of Racing.com for five months in 2021.
RV Chairman, Brian Kruger, said: “The board is delighted to appoint Andrew Jones to the position of Chief Executive and we look forward to his commencement later this year.
“Andrew will join Racing Victoria with a wealth of business, strategy and sports administration experience coupled with a unique understanding of the VTRIMB thanks to his advisory work in our media business and his time as Interim Chief Executive of Racing.com last year.
“The Victorian Thoroughbred Racing Industry has experienced outstanding growth and investment during Giles’ tenure and we are confident the sport will continue to thrive and prosper under the leadership of Andrew in the years to come.”
Previous roles have seen Jones work as General Manager of Strategy at Cricket Australia between 2010 and 2012 and Chief Executive of Cricket New South Wales (NSW) from 2013-19.
His experience in cricket was a key factor in his hiring by RV, with the board pointing to his role in the creation of the Big Bash and its successors, the Big Bash League (BBL) and Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), in particular pointing to the latter development as professionalising women’s cricket in Australia.
“I am very excited about the people, the industry and opportunity and am looking forward to getting started in July,” Jones concluded.