Here's what I experienced today. I have TVG2 (hrtv) left over on a paid cable add-on, so I was able to see some races this week, not all.
I went to one of the PARX Turf Clubs today and they broadcast the first few races from CD via RCN, the regular track feeds. Then it all blacked out. RCN put up a message and we had to hunt around for NBCSN. Luckily they had regular cable also, since they will sometimes show a game on TV. But otherwise, it's all RCN.
So we are watching every Derby in the last 10 years, no paddock shots, no nothing. We got a post parade, but we weren't sure if it was the CD race or Barbaro. We get no odds or nothing. We are getting a crawler on the KY Derby odds. That is tomorrow. We have no idea when post time is or odds or anything.
My buddy sees them going into the gate for one race and goes to bet and the race was already off. It was delayed. He was shut out.
The displays, were very late and only showed WPS, exacta and tri.
We couldn't see anything. We were putting vouchers into machines to try and see minutes to post and current odds. It was horrible.
People were frustrated and many just left. Nobody was mad at PARX, they were in the same boat as many. Everybody was mad at CDI. Horsplayers are smart, they know who is to blame.
Tomorrow is going to be a disaster. If you are at Churchill, you can't know how detrimental this is to racing in other places. One of the worst things I've seen.
This was a damn good card and tomorrows is too. I can't get a track stream on the internet, at home on TV or at any track or turf club anywhere near me.
All I get is Jerry Bailey. That just made everybody angrier.
Actually PA is unique. They block out open ADW competition (by state laws) and also block wifi in their facilities (by choice). Just a mess of confusion.
I just think it's a real "tell" on CDI and what they think of the public. They will gladly roll in the dough on Derby week and now the BC, but could care less about the horseplayer. They want the event crowd and make money on drinks, food, tickets and parking. Not to mention giving exclusive rights to NBCSN, a cable-only network. The NBC for the bigger part, like the Derby.
No consideration to the betting public. I've seen it all.
A great lesson about CDI was the BC announcement. They sent out press releases to all the horse racing press. "Big Announcement Tomorrow !!! Be there at Churchill at 10 AM for big news !!!". Well, they leaked the announcement to the Wall Street Journal that night to have it on the morning wire and get a stock pump. The horsracing writers looked like chumps, because they went all the way to CD and found out the story was already all over the internet. Horrible.
It's a shame. Great races today, great stories and I just wanted to see a RCN track feed.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this would affect the handle today and tomorrow. Probably a "Racing is dying" story will follow.
I feel a bit better. Not much. If I was really in the horse racing business, I'd want to get my product available to as many people as possible. Wouldn't you think ?
Arghh.......
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