SUN: Racing's media makeover paying off

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by Scav

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.

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?