SUN: Racing's media makeover paying off

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

As the product becomes more female friendly, you will see an increase in female fans. Is it not fair to say that VENUE is a huge part of the product?

I keep wondering about what sport everyone is refering to? Are we talking about the same one? You know the one where the growth is almost exclusively in account wagering?


The product is gambling. It is neither male or female friendly. The KY Derby and Oaks are not the product nor are the tv ratings for those anything but a sidebar. Horseracing does NOT derive any signifigant revenue from TV unilke other sports which derive the vast majority of their revenue from TV. What Bravo or ABC or NBC focuses on during its telecasts dont change the fact that we need people betting into the pools on days other than Derby days.

It is good news that ratings are up. However no one should think that the increase in ratings is "because of" something done right or that an increase in ratings for a singular event (Derby) translates into "we are going into the right direction with our new focus". All it means was the ratings were up for a 2 hour period one day of the year.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I keep wondering about what sport everyone is refering to? Are we talking about the same one? You know the one where the growth is almost exclusively in account wagering?


The product is gambling. It is neither male or female friendly. The KY Derby and Oaks are not the product nor are the tv ratings for those anything but a sidebar. Horseracing does NOT derive any signifigant revenue from TV unilke other sports which derive the vast majority of their revenue from TV. What Bravo or ABC or NBC focuses on during its telecasts dont change the fact that we need people betting into the pools on days other than Derby days.

It is good news that ratings are up. However no one should think that the increase in ratings is "because of" something done right or that an increase in ratings for a singular event (Derby) translates into "we are going into the right direction with our new focus". All it means was the ratings were up for a 2 hour period one day of the year.

I agree with pretty much everything you say here. The model has to change. Is it possible that racing could one day thrive where handle is just a portion of the revenue as opposed to nearly all of it? And if it can't, we need to look into new ways to generate handle.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

I agree with pretty much everything you say here. The model has to change. Is it possible that racing could one day thrive where handle is just a portion of the revenue as opposed to nearly all of it? And if it can't, we need to look into new ways to generate handle.

How exactly could it change? What other revenue sources could there be? TV revenue? That is a pipedream.

Your last sentence is the key. No doubt that is the best way for the game to survive and thrive. Betfair is a perfect example yet virtually no one is pushing for it within the game and there really hasnt been a groundswell from the people who put the money through the windows either. And the depressing part is that not only would incorporating Betfair style gambling be difficult in determining how to split the income but will almost assuredly be opposed by politicians.

While I do understand that there is a certain percentage of woman that gamble and follow horseracing I simply dont believe that there is some huge, secret group of women that are waiting to be coaxed into going to the track.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

How exactly could it change? What other revenue sources could there be? TV revenue? That is a pipedream.

Your last sentence is the key. No doubt that is the best way for the game to survive and thrive. Betfair is a perfect example yet virtually no one is pushing for it within the game and there really hasnt been a groundswell from the people who put the money through the windows either. And the depressing part is that not only would incorporating Betfair style gambling be difficult in determining how to split the income but will almost assuredly be opposed by politicians.

While I do understand that there is a certain percentage of woman that gamble and follow horseracing I simply dont believe that there is some huge, secret group of women that are waiting to be coaxed into going to the track.

There aren't...yet. Again, we have to adjust our thinking to a changing world. The role of women in sports and commerce is changing. Surely you understand this. We are the first generation of women that have grown up with this level of empowerment. Do you think that is going to go backward somehow?

The sports that have embraced the female sports fan have thrived, the ones that haven't are in trouble. Gambling is the same way. Women in the past didn't have the independence financially or otherwise to make decisions on how money was spent. Now?

You check out the way Las Vegas has changed their approach to the female gambler. Racing has, for the most part, been stuck in the fifties.

How many women do you see at football games today as opposed to 20 years ago? Baseball? how about hockey? How many women do you know that fill out tournament brackets? Has that gone up?

And TV is NOT a pipedream. If networks pay millions to watch rednecks drive a chevy around an oval for 5 hours, Im sure racing can put together a product that would at least be equally appealling.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

There aren't...yet. Again, we have to adjust our thinking to a changing world. The role of women in sports and commerce is changing. Surely you understand this. We are the first generation of women that have grown up with this level of empowerment. Do you think that is going to go backward somehow?

The sports that have embraced the female sports fan have thrived, the ones that haven't are in trouble. Gambling is the same way. Women in the past didn't have the independence financially or otherwise to make decisions on how money was spent. Now?

You check out the way Las Vegas has changed their approach to the female gambler. Racing has, for the most part, been stuck in the fifties.

How many women do you see at football games today as opposed to 20 years ago? Baseball? how about hockey? How many women do you know that fill out tournament brackets? Has that gone up?

And TV is NOT a pipedream. If networks pay millions to watch rednecks drive a chevy around an oval for 5 hours, Im sure racing can put together a product that would at least be equally appealling.

Those women at the football games are not betting on the games. We need bettors, not spectators. Racing would do better with whales at the track rather than 10k small players

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

Those women at the football games are not betting on the games. We need bettors, not spectators. Racing would do better with whales at the track rather than 10k small players

Every whale starts out as a minnow.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Every whale starts out as a minnow.

A male minnow though.

We need limos to get whales to the track. Dinners, dancing, etc...Rewards points isn't cutting it. Look what casinos do for their big bettors. Why isn't racing doing the same?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

There aren't...yet. Again, we have to adjust our thinking to a changing world. The role of women in sports and commerce is changing. Surely you understand this. We are the first generation of women that have grown up with this level of empowerment. Do you think that is going to go backward somehow?

The sports that have embraced the female sports fan have thrived, the ones that haven't are in trouble. Gambling is the same way. Women in the past didn't have the independence financially or otherwise to make decisions on how money was spent. Now?

You check out the way Las Vegas has changed their approach to the female gambler. Racing has, for the most part, been stuck in the fifties.

How many women do you see at football games today as opposed to 20 years ago? Baseball? how about hockey? How many women do you know that fill out tournament brackets? Has that gone up?

And TV is NOT a pipedream. If networks pay millions to watch rednecks drive a chevy around an oval for 5 hours, Im sure racing can put together a product that would at least be equally appealling.

It is a pipedream.

And what other sports do isnt that relevant. I do remember Las Vegas trying to promote the "other" aspects of vegas with poor results and they went back to what had worked before. And there is a huge difference between promoting slot machines and promoting handicapping races.

How many women show up at a baseball or football game isnt relevant because showing up and buying crap is the ultimate goal of those sports marketing teams. People showing up at the track and not betting (outside of the Derby or other big "event" days) simply arent much help. Probably one of the biggest barriers that horseracing faces is that so few of the people in positions of authority understand the handicapping/gambling dimension. And that includes the management of tracks like CDI which rarely hire anyone with any type of racetrack experience and tend to look down on gamblers in general despite being in the gambling business.