CRIST: Changes dilute Cup's appeal
 

No reason for me to finish the column I started about the ridiculous Cup changes, as I wouldn't have gotten it more right than Crist or said it as well:

Changes dilute Cup's appeal (DRF sub. req'd):
http://www.drf.com/drfNewsArticle.do?NID=92640

The announcement last Tuesday that the six newer and eight older Cup races will henceforth be jumbled together and then separated along gender lines seems to have bewildered or offended every segment of the sport's fan base. Coming on the heels of the indefensible decision to run the Cup at Santa Anita in both 2008 and 2009 - over a racing surface that has yet to be chosen, installed, or tested - it has created the impression that the nominal stewards of the Breeders' Cup have either lost their collective minds or surrendered them to new-age marketing gurus with a spotty regard for the event's history and appeal...

I saw this coming with the "Win and your in " nonsense which is strictly a PR campaign. Though I still have no problem with the addition of races (though the marathon idea is questionable), the separation by sex/days and renaming the Distaff seems to make no sense. It as if they are trying to "trick" people into watching/attending. Just as the Sunshine Millions is a contrived "rivalry" between CA and FL, this is like a madeup gimmick that just has no real purpose.

I doubt that it is aimed at established fans like us.
I do believe that it is 100% a gimmick to attract new fans (somehow) .
Like they're "spicing" it up somehow....

aim high shoot low

are these mythical new fans going to take a day off to experience their first race?

Well I WAS considering making the transcontinental trip from NJ to Cali for the '08 Breeders Cup but now I think I'll take a pass. It is absurd that the BC Limited actually thinks this is a "good" idea.

Racing always misses the boat with their marketing so why would they get it right this time? They simply seem to forget that most racing fans are smarter than the average joe (KRIM as a prime example) especially compared to the average NASCAR fan (sorry cajun) yet they continue to try to dumbdown the game for mass appeal. Racing is complicated and a good part of the allure is the challenge of trying to figure it out. Rather than attempting to identify that type of potential customer (many who would be older than the demographic that they lust after) they give us a supposed championship day disguised as Ladies Night as though it were a happy hour promotion. As opposed to using modern technology like HDtv, they give away t shirts, clocks and waste paper baskets. Rather than ask people who are fans what they think or want, they piss away money listening to some junior exec at a second tier marketing agency.

they want to attract new...but you'd think they'd care about keeping the ones they've already got. who better than a fan to get others to go to the track? my husband is a casual fan now(he said head bob the other day, i almost fell off the couch--insert joke HERE) and my daughter is hooked for life, my youngest is very interested, and my oldest wants to know if kickin will be in/near norfolk so he can go see her run.. they didn't get that way because some suit added races to the bc schedule.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see a single problem with this. We as racing fans were going to watch the races on Friday and Saturday no matter which races were on which days anyway. I see nothing wrong with trying to market things in a different way. Say for example Rags to Riches had finished the year out and ran in the BC but not in the Classic. In all of their marketing and advertising, the BC could tell fans to come out to see all three TC race winners.....only Rags would be in a different race and that race would be overshadowed by the Classic, the race for HOY. Rags would have been reduced to second fiddle. By having her run on the first day, they can basically showcase her. I don't see anything wrong with that. What's so wrong with trying to market two days instead of just one?

None of us fans are going to stop watching the sport because they added some races and moved them around a little bit. How are they losing fans by adding more races? Not a single person that I know either in real life or on these racing forums said "I'm not going to watch the BC now since they added extra races." And if Rags to Riches runs this year and she's in the Distaff, or whatever they want to call it, on Friday, I really doubt anyone is going to not watch that race because it's on Friday and not on Saturday.

a lot of folks work on fridays. i look forward to the bc, and treat it as a rare afternoon to watch race after race of what's supposed to be the best of the best.
so, what, now i go home and fast forward thru a bunch of filler to get to post time for those races, so i can hurry and watch a days races from friday before bed time?
also, a lot of fans enjoyed seeing that distaff..oh, excuse me, filly and mare classic-why shouldn't it be on the big day? why is it relegated to friday? to an afterthought? or in this case, a prelude to the big day.

so now those people buying those expensive tix to the saturday races, won't be getting what they used to get. i bet they mind!

There can only be one reason why it's Fri-sat and not Sat-Sun and that's ESPN. You know ESPN isn't going to sacrifice their NFL primtetime pre-game and everything else they do to show horse racing. I bet the BC would love to do Sat-Sun if allowed to.

And considering everything else they (BC) have done, that's the least of the worries I think.

i didn't see any of the friday races last fall. i was at work, and didn't bother to dvr them. for what? the good stuff was on saturday.

And why should ESPN want to bump NFL for horse racing? Have you seen the ratings for horse racing over the years? They can't even pull a bigger audience than the Kenosha County Tractor Pulling Championships. The damn National Spelling Bee probably gets higher ratings. Going to Sunday would KILL the BC. Believe that.

I'm guessing that like the rest of sports that tickets will only be sold for both events, not individually.

Kenosha County? Impressive local knowledge

I'm still not sure a Sunday prime time, even against the NFL wouldn't do better numbers than a Friday matinee like we have now.

wouldn't surprise me.
a lot of colleges now require season ticket buyers to make a 'donation' to the booster club as well...

i wouldn't want friday tix. that would be when i was travelling to the track....but yeah, no doubt that's what they'll do. twie the fun at twice the price, yippeee.

i dont agree at all.. save the travel day for on track people there would be no problem with sunday....

It wouldn't even be close.

The fans that are racing fans that want to watch will still watch. That's not going to change. Hell, we watched Curlin run on a Thursday morning from Dubai. We'll watch some Friday races. I personally would rather have the day split up than have 14 races on one day with 30-45 minutes between races. I'd like them to go back to just the original seven but since that's not going to happen, I like Fri-Sat much better than Sat-Sun.

no, WE didn't. you did, others did, but as a collective, we didn't all watch him.


at least, i didn't. i was at work. don't you people work?!

hear hear!

he doesn't need encouragement!:D

I agree..horse people will watch whenever..that base is established whether it's Fri or Sunday..but you are looking at a much larger pool of neophytes on Sunday, that even with most watching the NFL, will be larger than on a Friday.

Look at it this way....Assume..say..2% of the non horse racing fan is going to tune in...Would you rather get that 2% from the available FRiday audience or the available Sunday audience?

ok, TV ratings are not going to happen so why kiss ESPN butt

it's just another cable station

Friday will have a WNBA feel about it

That may well be true but then the question is how much of the racing fan will be lost to the NFL. Also, the 2% of the available audience on Friday might actually be more than the 2% of the available audience on Sunday.

ESPN doesnt cover the NFL on Sundays from 1-7.

I guess it's sad that we're debating about trying to attract maybe 2% of an audience.

The most obvious thing is that while the BC is trying so hard to appeal to a wider population, they are turning off their core customer.

then they will disrupt it with a curling match....or god forbid - arena football

I know..but they are still linked to that league very closely. If I were Oliver Stone, I would bet that the NFL even has final say on what they show during the Noon-6 period...

I understand about the people working but there is lots of advance time and if you are traveling to get there you would not be working on Friday anyway. Plus Saratoga, Keeneland and Del Mar do awfully well on weekdays. I am just disheartend by a supposed championship event being run by people who dont have any clue and ithe fact that they may make changes that make these seem pedestrian

To me, having Rags race on Day 1 (in your scenario) is to make her "second fiddle." Sorry but the biggest race "the day before" doesn't stand equal to the Classic or anyhting on Saturday. The Personal Ensign is run on the Fri before the Travers, does anyone care?

Bowling...

I hate to break it to everyone but Rags to Riches is not a 'crossover fan' attraction (not crossdressing). Her 15 minutes are up until she does something notble again.

If Rags had gone from the Oaks to the Ma Goose to the Coaching Club to the Alabama to the Beldame and the Distaff and won them all no one but us racing freaks would know her. She's famous for beating the boys. If she stays in the distaff, oops, Ladies division this season she'll be anonymous by October.

for bc day for how many years now, they had some other races on the card before the bc races started. they should have just made a big day of it, and left it at that. if they wanted to add a race or two, and fill a ten race card, fine. but this two day, segregated by sex deal, is not going to help anything. where else does anything like this two day event happen? and work?

They don't want to hear that. Don't let them know what the attendance figs were like for the Gazelle. They don't want to believe it. To them, she's the Messiah. Or something.

but it's us racing freaks who the powers that be should be taking care of.

take what works, make it better. quality, not quantity.

them who?? the them who think that a good race makes a good horse?:p

especially if she runs on Friday during rush hour

Are you going to stop watching the Saturday races because they have some races on Friday? Do you know anyone that stopped watching the Saturday races because they added new races and a new day? Not asking if you watched the Friday races but did you stop watching the Saturday ones?