ESPN Shafts Racing Fans Again

[bobphilo]

ESPN strikes again. Yesterday ESPN 2 was scheduled to show both the
Rushaway and Lanes End Stakes at 5:00. In order to show the replay -
that\'s REPLAY - of a tennis match. They only ended up showing a few
minutes of racing at close to 6:00. They got in the Lanes End but
didn\'t even bother to show or mention who won the Rushaway.
Today\'s edition of the NY Daily News (the city\'s largest paper which
used to be known for it\'s racing coverage) devoted all of one inch to
it\'s Dubai World Cup day coverage, limited to a terse announcement of
the winner of the last race.
Looks like the media has decided that racing is as dead as the
dinosaur and much less interesting. Racing fans are now the Rodney
Dangerfield of sports. No respect. How\'s it feel being treated like crap - again?

Bob

[NoCarolinaTony]

Bob,

What did I tell you last week? get over it. Lower than whale turd.

NC Tony

[richiebee]

Bob:

  ...on the other hand, how many sports have a daily newspaper (available free on line) almost totally devoted to the coverage of that sport?

  Sponsors are not for some reason drawn to racing. Maybe its because if you are a savvy corporate advertiser you realize that a good deal of the racing audience\'s disposable income is, er, predisposed if you will (lol).

  The TV networks problem finding sponsorship is never so evident as on Breeders\'s Cup Day. Have you noticed that the only TV ads which were running were the ads of actual BC sponsors: Alberto- Culver, Bessemer Trust, Dodge and Air Emirates; these ads ran over and over again, perhaps because the network was not able to find any other concerns willing to advertise on a lowly rated program.

  If you rely on the sports section of your daily newspaper or network or cable TV for coverage of racing, I think you will be quite dissapointed.

[bobphilo]

richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
 
>   If you rely on the sports section of your daily
> newspaper or network or cable TV for coverage of
> racing, I think you will be quite dissapointed.

Rich and Tony,
All true, The Washington Post stopped giving racing results altogether too.
 
It\'s just that I grew up with these as my link to the sport and it hurts being dumped. I\'m more pissed than surprised.

Bob

[tmon]

There was a half hour replay of the Lanes End later in the evening 11PM i think.

[shanahan]

I won\'t divulge much more than this - and it\'s from personal experience and investment:

the tracks don\'t give a hoot who sponsors what...I pay a LOT of money to have had an \"official\" X during the triple crown the last 5 years (I\'m not VISA).  Yeah, right, try and find the product when you ask for it.  Even on the BIG DAY, it\'s not available at most outlets....sorry to be vague, but what little left we have to gain, I won\'t risk it.

So...to the point - why let ESPN be any different?  At least Fowler called out the arabs for their BS - with no other rebuttals...ESPN will get away with it because there is NO NATIONAL AUTHORITY or governing body univerally respected by all the tracks...can you imagine the STL Cardinals making up their own schedule and ignoring MLB?  That\'s the best analogy I can offer...

sincerely,
frustrated racing fan and sponsor

[P-Dub]

You\'re right, it was at 11pm PST.......showed the program at that time.