The future of New York Racing has once again been in the news this week, with
the announcement early in the week that the Mohegan Sun Casino people have
joined up with the Capital Play consortium, an Australian group,in an effort
to be awarded the right to run New York\'s major race tracks; later in the week
Governor Spitzer announced that a decision would be made by September 4 as to
who would take over New York Racing when NYRA\'s franchise rights are scheduled
to expire on January 1, 2008.
The Mohegan Sun/ Capital Play partnership is based on a popular model whereby
an experienced racetrack operator will run racing operations and an experienced
gaming company will administer the long delayed slots operation at Aqueduct
(and possibly one day, Belmont).
The following excerpts from a Monday New York Post article show that the
Capital Play/ Mohegan group has adopted a \"Stronachian\" view of the future of
Racing:
\"[Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess]says that he believed that Capital Play
has the best proposal for rejuvenating racing in the state. Etess said he
was committed to Capital Play\'s proposal to transform Aqueduct and Belmont
into racetracks that appeal to women, where first class restaurants and
Chardonnay would replace rundown stands that peddle hot dogs and Coors Light.
Etess said that Mohegan Sun operates under the presumption that casinos--
and racetracks-- have to be entertainment driven,rather than rely on slot
machines.
Capital Play CEO Karl O\'Farrell said that he hoped to make Aqueduct into a
go-to place for young people by making the grandstand smaller so that it is
more inviting, and by putting in quality restaurants and bars.\"
There is nothing really new here, and if you have been to either of the
downstate facilities, you know that even after downsizing one or both
grandstands, there would be ample room for a lot more than bars and restaurants,
such as a small indoor arena (capable of accomodating concerts, corporate
meetings, etc). The enclosed and partially enclosed spaces at the 2 downstate
facilities are so large that they might even accommodate a preferred indoor
parking area or might be devoted to adequate housing for backstretch employees.
The ideas for the use of the large structures at the two downstate white
elephants are unlimited. Unfortunately, any implementation of these plans must
be preceded by a major alteration and clean up of the existing facilities,
which have been neglected by NYRA for the past 20 or so years.
Any alterations to Belmont are made more difficult by the fact that the place
has tremendous historic, traditional and sentimental value, and that if it is
downsized too much there will be lost opportunities to host large crowds on
Belmont Stakes Day and Breeders\' Cup Day.
Steve Crist, in one of his editorials, claimed that the renovation and
restoration of New York\'s downstate racing facilities is unimportant in the
greater scheme of things; Mr. Crist\'s point seemed to be that the \"live gate\"
was secondary to building and preserving outlets for intertrack and offtrack
(including online) wagering. To paraphrase, Mr. Crist appeared to be saying
\"Who cares if the grandstand and the clubhouse are empty, as long as somebody
somewhere is betting on the races\".
After reading this editorial, I was reminded of a famous General George S.
Patton quote: \"Fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man\".
Major League baseball, NFL football and NBA basketball (all of which have
generated an unbelievable amount of negative press recently) are all readily
accessible on television. Some would say that football especially is better on
TV. Why do these sports in most venues have strong attendance figures?
What ever happened to the notion that a horseplayer who was at the track had
a decent advantage over his off-track counterparts in terms of being able to
observe the condition of the animals,to take note of unannounced equipment
changes and changes in wind and surface conditions?
The point is that the future of racing is reliant on future generations of
horseplayers who want to bet on the races. The best place to attract these
people is at a racetrack. The only encouraging signs I have seen in this part
of the country are the large number of children I have seen at Saratoga
and Monmouth Park.
The future of baseball,basketball and football is assured by the fact that once
children and young adults who play these sports become too physically feeble to
participate, they will continue to watch others play; fewer and fewer youths
have any connection with horses or have even ridden a horse,so the pre-
fabricated connection is not there for horse racing.
In my opinion, creating decent places to attend the races is more important
to cultivating a future generation of horseplayers than it is to keeping
the current generation satisfied.
I live very close to Belmont. It literally takes me 5 minutes to get there. It\'s my 3rd favorite track in the world to go to (behind Del Mar and Saratoga). Yet, I almost never go. When I do go, it\'s usually to see a specific horse or race that is so compelling I want to be part of the event. When I\'m going to gamble I want to be home with all my information, placing my bets via internet, getting rebates, and going about my business during races where I have no interest etc...
I think to a large extent that\'s true of a lot of people.
Serious players are typically better off at home. It\'s cheaper, there are rebates, they have more info at their disposal, and it\'s more convenient.
The casual fan wants great races, great horses, or an \"event\". Those are few and far between these days.
IMO, the economics and management of the sport are both very distorted.
First off, all the great horses retire early, can easily avoid each other, or only race 4-5 times a year.
What would attendance be like at other sports if as soon as a player showed potential greatness he was benched or retired immediately?
Plus, there is no compelling reason for serious players to go to the track.
To me, there are way too many racetracks in America in the internet/simulcast era. Many should be closed and the land used more effectively. They should not be salvaged with slots etc... Who needs a racetrack when the slots make all the money and can be combined with simulcasting into much smaller facilities? It\'s a huge waste.
IMO, the goal should be to have a handful of racetracks around the country in high population and/or vacation spots. They would generate huge handles because there would be way fewer tracks diluting the betting dollar. They could then offer purses that might keep great horses racing longer. The industry should also be organized at a high level so the tracks are not competing with each other for the best horses. There needs to be an incentive for the best horses to race against each other. It might also be easier to operate and offer rebates for on track attendance because the handles would be so huge.
I\'m not saying this is the perfect plan or that I\'ve given this a real lot of thought, but I think we should at least trying to use the assets effectively, making the sport more exciting, and drawing fans to the track.