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Originally Posted by Cannon Shell
SR
I have no idea if racing has expanded or shrunk its fanbase over the last 10 years or so. I'm not sure how to even measure it. As I have stated before, racing "fans" have a much different relationship to our sport than other fans have with mainstream sports. Being that we our main (only?) stream of revenue comes through wagering, it makes more of a gambling hybrid than a traditional sport. The fact that less people are coming out to the races is not a new or surprising trend. But handle nationwide has been pretty consistent over that time. Obviously many people have moved to betting using account style, offtrack betting. I recall a poll done by ESPN a year or so ago that said that 25% of the population had at least some interest in horseracing which I thought was high and think they quoted it as being up from like 11%. Of course they were starting to do more horseracing so maybe they doctored the numbers? I think just the fact that ESPN wants the Breeders Cup and more big races leading up to it is a positive sign, but thats another topic.
Of course I as a horseman I am concerned that the racino tracks will/are focusing much of their marketing efforts on the slots. But I also recognize that because of the tremendous competition for the gambling dollar, that I would rather deal with greedy racetracks focusing on making money from slots than a closed track with zero dollars for purses. Of course if the slots tracks in conjunction with the states would make a concession and lower the takeout to a reasonable rate, I believe that handle on the races would surge, not in a small part due to the fact that the players simply would have more money in their pockets. I would trade all the marketing in the world for a 50% reduction in takeout.
The possibility that racinos will move to eliminate racing altogether is a possibility but unlikely for the reason that it would bring them a lot of grief and lawsuits. It is simply easier to subsidize racing than eliminate it.
I believe that Penn National going private after the takeover especially in light of the possibility of a PE Blackstone tax increase and all the fallout over it, may take a while before things are different.
I am always skeptical of stories like this that seem to have no general public interest other than to try to sway opinion by trying to paint a picture using half the canvas.
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It's crap, won't ever happen. It's inefficient public companies fearful of privatization through LBO's crying uncle that the the PE's have a built in advantage through the tax breaks (whose tax rates, with good accountants, are available to ALL companies.)