Why is Bill Finley calling us losers??

[SentToStud]

There's no way what Finley describes is going to happen. As far as getting more people out to the track, that ship has sailed. The only growth in the sport is ADW and aside from SoCal, Saratoga and big days at the other places, people are just not going to spend the extra $20 it costs to drive, park, admit and have a lousy sandwich to go to the races live. People shop, pay their bills and gamble online. They are not going to drive to Hawthorne in March when they can bet any track they want in their living room.

Aside from takeout, the biggest problem is that all the tracks gave away the store in the 80's when they cut the simulcasting revenue-share deals that provide very little revenue to the tracks actually running the races. All the host tracks thought simulcasting was found money and didn't recognize how much it cannibalized their live product. The simulcasting deals are what is killing the sport along with takeout.

It's absurd that places like Yonkers, all of the Ontario harness tracks and most other tracks even exist today. There's no valid economic reason for all these tracks artificially propped up by unfair simulcast deals and slot machines to exist. When a place like the Palm Beach Dog Track handles $200k each on NYRA and Gulfstream every winter Saturday, with less than 25% going to those host tracks, something is very wrong.

But these mostly small tracks with slots and/or simulcast deals are making money. Lots of it. And most of the slots tracks are partnered with big gaming companies who are far better than traditional race track managers at playing the game at the legislative level. They will fight to the death to resist any change. And they will most very likely win.

[Swale84]

"Imagine a game where there was no takeout or a very small one. The same exacta that is now paying $40 would pay $50. The winner that now returns $8 would pay $10."

I think we would all love to play a track with little or no takeout

[deltagulf]

Originally Posted by Swale84

"Imagine a game where there was no takeout or a very small one. The same exacta that is now paying $40 would pay $50. The winner that now returns $8 would pay $10."

I think we would all love to play a track with little or no takeout

i know i would.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by Swale84

"Imagine a game where there was no takeout or a very small one. The same exacta that is now paying $40 would pay $50. The winner that now returns $8 would pay $10."

I think we would all love to play a track with little or no takeout

That's why rebates are such a nice addition. If you lower the take, which will never happen, to a certain level that would serve as the rebate.

[Bobby Fischer]

im willing to go along with the premise of the article if it means lowering take or raising/HAVING rebates.


What the business of racing fails to see is the new customers created by the online wagering sites. Rebates and a nice interface and all of a sudden new players want to try their hand...

The industry doesn't seem to think outside the box. Racing isn't even regularly broadcast on national television and it is 2007. The industry seems to view investments, rebates, lowering take as losses. No forward thinking. It's like the driver who only looks one foot in front of his car and then has to slam on his/her brakes at a red light.

There is only one solution to the racing industry. Slots.



just kidding

Slots help to bring in what I would consider the desperate gambler, the entertainment gambler, and the stupid gambler. For the life of me I cannot figure out the fascination with these idiot machines. Sorry for sounding high and mighty but I just flat out do not get it and I dont think I ever will.

Of course I hate/hated Survivors, Dancing with the Stars, American Idiot... so I am completely out of touch. I would watch horse racing even if it did not include wagering. I love athletic competition that does not involve judging to determine a winner. Large animals that move so rapidly and powerfully is a thing of beauty for me. The finish line at a horse race is awesome.