MARKETING CONVERSATIONS: 2 interesting pieces

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Ok take today for example. How do you suppose we create an event atmosphere for Belmont on a typical Thursday?

We need to sell gambling because that is our product. What has been written about is hardly the current course. I guess people who think like you just dont understand or refuse to acknowledge that economic realities exist and we can't make every day Xmas.

I find it hard to believe that we can trick potential gamblers into thinking that they are high society people and then they will start to become regulars. Especially when virtually all the growth in the gambling market is online.

No one starts as a 500 dollar a hand player in Las Vegas. Many people didn't go to Vegas the first time to gamble. Many go for the shopping, shows, spas and restaurants. Many Blackjack players started out in nickel slots. Many craps players started with Roulette.

I agree that the gambler is the backbone but there are other ways to bring new gamblers in or even create them that are much better than what isn't working.

The "high society" thing is simply meaning that we have to change the perceptions. We have to be realistic about the perception of the game to the masses. That is what most fail to grasp.

Is Belmont Park female friendly? Would you feel comfortable taking a date there? Compare it to what Churchill Downs has done with the renovations.

I realize that every day can't be Christmas. But if you make more "christmas like" days, perhaps you can draw more than 50 people on regular days. Perhaps if the first experience someone has at Belmont Park isn't with Broken toilets, bad food and a general lack of hygene, maybe they might come back and bring other people with them. Maybe one out of twenty ends up falling in love with the sport...like we did.

Gambling is our product and selling gambling will ensure that all you get is current gamblers. Good luck selling that vig in those venues. Good luck when horse racing results aren't even published in most newspapers on a daily any longer. Good luck when ESPN has it on their website with "other sports".

The product should be "entertainment" because you want to draw current gamblers and prospective gamblers.

To answer your original question about Belmont, days like these are inevitable. You can bolster them much better if you can provide a better overall experience in your "event" days. I think that they need to do a monmouth style thing and shorten the racing days or close some tracks. There aren't enough horses.