SUN: Preakness ad campaign paying dividends
 

Say what you want about the Kegasus concept, it seems to have paid off..

Preakness sends a mixed message, but gets the right result
Ticket sales rise 17 percent as organizers court traditional racing fans and young people alike

Doesn't this have more to do with everyone finding out you're going to be in the infield? What happens when they announce that you're doing the 12:30 "Running of the urinals?"

Drunk money in the pools is something we can all agree is a positive.

Of course, but do you really think the average per capita handle of the Kegasus crowd is more than $20? I don't.

Does anyone else find it a bit disturbing that there wasn't a shot of one live horse/race in that video?

Be careful, lest you be called a bigot for besmirching the infield crowd at the Preakness.

how do they plan on monitoring that considering the majority of the parking at the preakness is off site and what they would probably deem "illegal"

i don't know how anyone is trusting this dog and pony show to follow through with their bottomless mug promotion again this year. Rumor has it they ran out of beer before the 5th last year, and the line to get A beer was over an hour.

IMO the concerts are what has been driving sales

with that being said, i'll be in the clubhouse box area

-bt-

No, but tracks make money off stuff besides handle and that all helps in the grand scheme of things.

If a family of four came to the races @ LAD and didn't gamble, they just wanted an outing for the day...

Box seat... $40
Food & Beverage... $30 give or take, let's say it's $20 revenue
Programs etc.... $5, with $4 revenue

So if the track makes $64 off a family of four, the comparative "need to bet" number would be $581 based on 11% (half the blended take-out). Now, the other $581 would go to purses, so that obviously counts for something.

But there's no way they gamble that much.

There's a balance... and yes, handle is good, but revenue is revenue for racetracks now-a-days.

My question is, why even target the off-site parking? Seems like that is being pretty petty. What's next, going after the locals who sell $3 bottles of water and $2 hot dogs on the way to and from M&T Bank Stadium?

You know that I know that. I hope the weather's great and the place is jammed.

My post was directed specifically at the comment that we need more drunk money in the pools. There will be very little of that from the infield I would guess.

The only thing that I take issue with is, that it doesn't seem like they are promoting the race or the sport. It's more about come to Pimlico to party, get drunk and listen to music. Oh yeah you might notice some horses running around a track about every 33 minutes.

If f'ing Bruno Mars is the reason people are going to Pimlico on the 21st, then I don't know what to say. His music makes my ears bleed.

You are what you are. Own it!