letting you bet on the net is a states rights issue, unless the federal government were to step in but that is never going to happen IMO.

now if they repeal the internet betting law then you can wager overseas, its non pari-mutual and the state wont have any real say legally.

We're on the same page, which is why I didn't want you to think your original post specifically set me off. I should elaborate more but can't right now... Most of the industry's issues stems from its' age and longevity. It's complex but is steadily being addressed. Those looking for a panacea will be disappointed. Yesterday was a huge win for all that's good about racing.

Yep.
I would rather lose my money to the tracks here though.

The NHL's greatest injury was self-inflicted by undermining its' own fan base abandoning core and niche markets for what they thought were greener pastures in non-ice sport markets. Morons.

I just hope people in my generation understand how 'huge' yesterday was, and not take it for granted. The older generation had horses like Personal Ensign and Ruffian and RA is my generation's horse

I am already salivating at seeing RA versus Zenyatta in California.....

Are you sure its not for your margarita girl? ;) :D

Her too but I am guessing the margarita girl industry has a high turnover....

exactly-they tried to appeal to other than their fan base...a good point that racing should pay attention to. i think some people feel if it isn't on espn, it doesn't matter. with espn seemingly abandoning horse racing, hopefully nbc will pick up the slack-like they did with the nhl. ratings yesterday were the second highest in two decades for the preakness. that is a good sign. increased handle was another. it shows that the attempts to get record crowds at the track was NOT the way to go. crowdsize was way down, but i think that helped. it certainly didn't hurt.

it was huge. she's a throwback to days gone by for sure.

You're way off. The NHL went downhill with Gary Bettman's pipe dream of removing the game from niche markets and regionalization and into areas like Arizona, Florida, etc. Hockey can work in SOME non-niche regions, like LA, Dallas, Anahiem even.

However, doing so at the expense of franchises in core areas, like southern Ontario, or Quebec, Minnesota (until the Wild), or even a second team in Toronto is terrible business. It's the thing that plagues the NHL most today. Oh, and the labor strife a few years back didn't help.

Horse racing can learn a lot from the NHL. The NHL did not need to expand it's horizons beyond a regional niche sport to be successful. Like any business, if you can carve out your percentage of the market, and maximize profit and revenue within that percentage, you're doing a lot better than most. Racing doesn't need to try and grasp at straws to burn money to find ways to bring in more casual fans. It sounds a lot like the NHL moving teams to Phoenix. A waste of money (as is being proven out) to foolishly expand the market.

I would be furious if racing foolishly spent money to get on ESPN, at the expense of much needed improvements within racing itself. All too often, those of us who make up the market for horse racing get stepped on and ignored. Why on earth would we want racing to try and foolishly spread it's wings where, we, the consumer, become even more irrelevant?

:tro:

i think racing would be best served by not competing against itself. two racing networks are a perfect example, with attempts at exclusive contracts, etc. racing would do better at getting the two channels on ALL cable channels, and on directv. you have two channels with all racing, all the time. why go after an all sports channel, who is better off feeding the masses with football, basketball..and cheerleading competition ,etc.

wouldnt have heard a complaint from me :$:

This is a separate discussion, but when you have a shrinking base you need to find ways to grow. People are saying keep the core, core people rarely leave, whether its hockey, horse racing, or political parties etc, but you need to find ways to expand that core, and that is what the NHL did in LA Phoenix, Dallas, Tampa, and I would not say that was a total failure, I believe they had some really bad ownership, bad salary structure, and the final nail was bad tv deals.

Well until we all start cutting out the bulls.hit I'll be the one to put a dose of reality into the conversation.

And how is this not happening with the situation in Kentucky with Indiana in the process of gutting the product?

It is.. I've brought it out extensively on the show with the 'Kentucky in Crisis' special... And Maury Wolf told the ATR two years ago how a site like Prairie Meadows was in the process of undermining Chicago racing.

Oh...I missed that one. Was that before or after the Dusty Rhodes call? :D

Just basically wrote about that.

Very cool stuff to be seeing.

The NHL will never get beyond "niche" status (this from an avowed hockey nut) because the game doesn't translate to TV. There is too much going on away from the puck that takes away from the nuance of the game on TV. The league attendance is up this year in the regular season as well as playoffs, and apparently season ticket renewals are ahead of last year's pace in most markets.....even Long Island. I also happen to think Versus does a terrific job.