SUN: Racing's media makeover paying off
 

Horse racing's media makeover is paying off
After courting new, younger and female fans, major events see TV ratings rise



A very interesting and encouraging piece on the dynamics behind the excellent Derby ratings.

One thing the media types saying this increase doesn't mean an increase in racing's prospects dont understand, is that it is firmly established that once you get 'new fans' interested in the sport/game, they invariably become horseplayers.

I have a hard time relating the ratings of one 1 1/2 period on a sleepy Saturday to the emergence of new horseplayers...but thats just pessismestic me!

Will these new, younger and female fans bet in the future?

@CHUCK: You have to start a turnaround somewhere. Would it be better if the viewership had stayed even or dropped?

@CJ: The typical transition of intigued patron to horseplayer is that of someone introduced to the game at ages 18-30, and then is drawn into the sport more and more as they mature. With more leisure time and expendable income, those increasingly intrerested parties begin to bet more. I don't think that gender will mean anything long term, and that it's rather sexist and presumptuous to suggest that the young women that may be getting interested earlier in the sport now via Bravo or whatever are less likely to bet than young men. And in fact, I'd suggest that they'd be a lot MORE inclined to take up horseplaying than getting involved in trying to become sports gamblers where access is tremendously limited.

As I've suggested before on ATR, females, Afro-Americans and especially Hispanics are the areas of the potential patron/player growth the game has stupidly failed to court.

I like females.

I love lamp.

The B-more Sun still has some of the better racing coverage around. While the Washington Post has just about completely removed horse racing coverage from their paper - save the occasional Andy Beyer piece - the Sun continues to provide solid accounts of not only the Preakness, but the overall fragile nature of Maryland racing. In fact, on big racing days such as the Derby and Preakness and Breeders Cup, the Washington Post actually runs Baltimore Sun coverage in their sports page.

I simply dont believe that people who are interested in Bravo's coverage are wired the same as people who become gamblers. There is a huge difference between getting a certain segment of the population to tune into a singular televised event and that same segment investing the necessary time, energy and MONEY into becoming a person that follows the sport with their dollars. While it certainly doesnt hurt and getting more eyes on the races and our top events isnt a bad thing, I personally believe that the industry and dopes that run it shouldnt try to read too much into a new wave of "fans" or gamblers being created. IMO the Derby's ratings were up chiefly because there was nothing else even remotely compelling on.

Women are financially self-sufficient, they have plenty of disposable income, they can access horse racing from the snuggly comfort of their homes, and they are far more likely to have successful gambling experiences than their male counterparts, IMO. You won't see a college girl lose the entire semester's financial aid in one drunken afternoon at the track, and swear off gambling forever.

I'd love to see YouBet or Xpressbet's demographics. I'd guess 1/3 are women.

I would take the under.

For a couple million please?

Yes, but the difference is that the college boy won't swear it off. He'll be back the next semester reloaded.

I just don't see it. When my wife and I were dating, she had a great job and enjoyed to gamble. We both used to go to Atlantic City often. Then I started taking her to Monmouth in the summer and she liked it. But it was more of a day out type thing. She would look at a program and pick names. She wasn't spending minute's/hours capping races and sequances. She wanted to pick her horses and go back to her magazines that she used to bring. Even when we were home and I would bet by phone, she really couldn't care less about it. And she had the base as well. Meaning her father and brother played the horses and her mother works at OTB.
Now that I really think about it, I think the number is way under the 1/3rd that Riot is looking for.

It is more like 1 in 20 or maybe even 1 in 30.

The thought that woman are going to take a 1/4 of their paycheck, spend the night before handicapping, get to the track before the first race for their favorite area, get a voucher, send in some $24 P3 tickets, and focus all day at the track is absolutely nuts.

Don't get me wrong, I love woman at the racetrack but 99% of them are there for one or many of the following reasons

1) Nothing to do in the area so they can go be outside and have some drinks
2) Their group of guy friends are going out there and they are tagging along
3) It is a 'big deal' day and they get to dress up and look all hot, thus gathering massive amounts of attention all day
4) They are taking their family out there to show the kids the jockeys and the ponies
5) They are getting dragged out there by their boyfriend
6) They are on a date out there (actually a great idea for anyone that hasn't tried this, just go to a different track then your local hole)
7) They are there because they actually like racing, and they are betting, but in small amounts

I think even the girls on this board will admit they are not rolling to the track with $300 ready to go apeshit the whole day. I have been to the track with both Sightseek and Uncly. Sightseek was all dressed up and all about the horses, including repeativitly telling me how awesome She Be Wild was, when I didn't use her at all, and she maybe bet $50-$60 the whole day :) :)..Uncly went and had a beer with me and was yelling exactas and win bets at this kid and bet all of maybe $60 the whole day and she was happy as pie.

Both of these girls have decent jobs, can handle themselves in a horse racing conversation and are completely competent with a Form, more then probably 90% of the woman in this world, and they are still aren't firing away.

Repeativitly? :zz:

I am good at creating words that aren't words but people around me usually understand what I am trying to say :)

Well, I guess I'm not the typical DT chick, I buy the form regularly from the local smoke shop, I take hundreds with me to the track (lost $250 Sunday) and I fire with both fists at P3's and P4's. I love this game but if I didn't have disposable income I could never afford it. I also collect racing art and other memorabilia, donate to rescue groups and listen to Byk's radio show :D But I know I am the rare female fan.

You were part of the 1% that do. I know how you roll..

But seriously, let me ask you this, how many other woman roll that way at your local OTB?

I am not saying it is impossible, and matter of fact I know of one woman at Arlington that is in her late 30's that regularly is there with a brick of cash, but she is the ONLY one there.

This is very narrow. It is thinking like this that limits the sport. You can't make statements like "99%" of anything based on the limited sampling of people in which you have come in contact. Its a big world out there Scav.

I am bringing a $1000 to the Preakness on Saturday. Yeah, its not break the bank money but it will be enough to play pick 4's, three horse exacta boxes and maybe some tri's in the bigger fields and yes I will keep firing until the last race.

Some of what you say is true. Book club is not exactly packed with horseplayers or girlfriends that would even know how to make a wager. At the same time, I run into plenty of women that are either into the sport in some fashion or would LIKE to be.

I would love some demographic breakdowns on poker, table games or even lotteries. I would bet (more than $2 scav) that the percentage of females in these gambling endeavors is rising. Forget just gaming, look at the way the NFL markets to women. Is it just a coincidence that the meteoric rise of the NFL as the overwhelmingly dominant sport in the US coincided with the way the sport marketed to women? How about Nascar? How about professional poker? Look at what hockey is doing during this renaissance.

Steve said it perfectly. Do you guys really think that the trends of women and minorities as sports fans and gamblers is going to suddenly begin to revert?

Well, Joyce does but other than that I think there's only one little old Asian lady that's dropping some serious cash, but I'm pretty sure she's money laundering :rolleyes: