CBS Takes Amazing Race to the Racetrack

The Meadowlands Pace race gets a new look with CBS’ The Amazing Race casting call this summer

The Amazing Race is headed to the racetrack this summer as part of a CBS casting call for the new season of the hit reality show.

The network will host auditions in the tri-state area for the show on July 15 at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. Two-person teams will have up to three minutes to convince judges that they should be considered as contestants for the show. Applicants must show proof of U.S. citizenship and sign a release form. Applications are available online at CBS.com/primetime/
amazing_race_application.

Open auditions will take place the same day as the Meadowlands Pace, a $1 million harness racing event. It's the first time CBS has held auditions for The Amazing Race at a racetrack. The Sloan Group, a New York City-based advertising and marketing agency, handles.

One of the goals under The Amazing Race at the Pace campaign is to elevate the Meadowlands Pace with a new identity, said Ludmila Palasin, VP media director, The Sloan Group. The Pace race is often seen as secondary to the Hambletonian race, a top $1 million harness racing event, which takes place two weeks later, she said. The agency plans to launch a host of print ads this month and in July showing horses as rock stars—in stretch limousines, in a mosh pit and bedecked with a gold tooth and diamond-encrusted tooth.

CBS and the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority will spend about $750,000 on the promotion, which includes print and online advertising, Palasin said. The Sloan Group is the NJSEA's agency of record.

"We're taken a very non-traditional way to promote horseracing because this is a party night with rock n' roll," she said. "We want to introduce this amazing sport to a younger demographic and get them to understand...the intricacies of horseracing and how much fun it can be to go the track."

To add to the festivities, the Meadowlands event will feature two rock bands, The Nerds and Good Girls Don't, and the Absolute Martini Tent in Paddock Park. In addition, the Meadowlands will give five Amazing Race applicants and up to five guests, a dinner party pass to a private room at the Meadowlands Racetrack's Pegasus Restaurant.

TV spots, radio spots print ads and online materials will support.

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