Are we getting close to a primetime Derby?

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by pba1817

The Derby is about the only thing horse racing has going that is a positive.. why they would even consider changing it is beyond me. You are not going to gain any added viewers by delaying the post a couple of hours... It is a live sporting event, those who are interested will watch no matter what time post is, those who are kinda interested but not intrigued will do the same thing the rest of us do.. DVR.

I disagree with this.

First thing is, there is more than one positive thing in racing besides the Derby. (Actually from a handicapping standpoint, I actually don't like the derby. Most of the horses have the same pp's, it just seems like a big crapshoot to me and you need more racing luck than usually to be successful.)

As far as other positive things go, the whole NYRA/NYOTB thing is extremely positive as far as I'm concerned. To already go with the entire Saratoga meet/expierence. Aside from the surface, Del Mar is another popular meet. Santa Anita going back to dirt is positive as well. Eibar Coa walking out of a hosipital is probably the most important and positive news of all. And so on, obviously there are issues with our sport, but then again there are issues with every sport. There is positive news around, you just have to choose to acknowledge it.

As far as the later post goes, how do you know it won't attract more people? Many other sports have moved their playoff games to the evenings (obviously talking weekends here), isn't that strictly for viewership? How do you know that it wouldn't translate over for the Derby? The answer is that you don't? Really what's the worst thing that could happen? Even if they lose a big number viewers, then just chalk it up as a failed expierment and move it back the next year. But if it works, it could be a tremendous success for the event and sport as a whole. I think the risk-reward makes it a no brainer to at least expierment with.