Starting long - perhaps even unpleasantly slow - sustained takeout reductions is the only answer for racing.
Tampa Bay Downs is the only thing going right now that has opted for that course of action - and they have been doing so at a crawl and started it from brutally high levels several years ago.
The levels now cause such discouragement that creating useful new fans is borderline impossible. Tracks need to start doing what Tampa has been doing - but at a slightly faster pace - and in 25 or 30 years from now things will be a lot more encouraging for newer fans. Racing will shed its public stigma of a suckers game. You might see an infusion of new players like Poker has enjoyed recently. We know how great the sport is - but that discouragement from the rake combined with an intimidating learning curve is a tough combo.
Maybe betting exchanges can help - but 400lbs ladies aren't attractive and racing needs to slowly start the process of shedding its fat in a healthy sustained manner.
|