Del Mar Deb Is InThe House

[TGJB]

Very nice letter to the editor in this week\'s Bloodhorse, Deb.

[Delmar Deb]

Thanks TGJB!

I know some of you read Ray Paulick\'s column in The Bloodhorse last week (see TG thread \"That idiot Paulick is at it again\", 8/3/05) and commented on it here.  I sent my comments to him, with a copy to Jerry saying that \"this will never make the Letters column!\".  To my great surprise, the next morning I had an email from Paulick asking permission to publish my letter...and they did so in full, no edits.

Since I wrote it, and there is no link to the Letters column over the internet, I have posted it below...


August 3, 2005

Dear Mr. Paulick:  

I am so tired of reading all the excuses for the decline in wagering, lower net profits for racetracks (i.e., Churchill), and fewer patrons on-site made by industry insiders who look for anyone to blame but themselves!
 
There is a reason that Las Vegas succeeds in attracting bettors, and that the \"home\" market for wagering companies has continued to expand - but no one in racing wants to talk about it.  
 
Look at the cost of going to the track these days and what you get for it.  In Southern California, figure a minimum of $4 for parking; $6 grandstand admission; $10 for a reserved seat; $4 for a Daily Racing Form and $2 for a program...for a grand total of $26 before you ever place a bet!  Compare this to Vegas where all of the above are either free or a minimum charge of $2 for a Form.
 
Also, at home or in Vegas, your food and drink is not an issue cost-wise; but at Del Mar you can now pay as much as $7.50 for a beer!
 
Raising the cost of admission, seating, food and drink to compensate for the lower live turnout would be better served by giving people a reason to come to the track.  Stop whining and fight back with PROMOTIONS centered on gambling and horses.  
 
Welcome your customers by providing them with all the information they need to learn the game; and give them a comfortable place to study the card and make bets.  
 
Show them how good it can be and just maybe people on the street will start reading the Daily Racing Form again, and live bettors will return to the only place that can provide the one thing no one else can even simulate...the sounds and sights of a live horse race!
 
Debra Giglio
Carlsbad, CA

[OPM]

DG:
This is an ok letter in my opinion but you fail to state the crux of the problem in racing, the high cost of the game.  Takeout averages 20% whereas sports betting is only 4.5%.  The house advantage in blackjack is only 1% for the good players.  The bottom line is this game will continue to lose customers until greedy horsemen, track owners and other management start paying attention to the people that pay their way, the bettors.  Some owners feel we should pay for their private parties, these people should move to Dubai.  Every study out there have shown that a decrease in takeout will increase handle and what do horsemen do, they want to increase the takeout so they can take their short term profit and to the hell with the rest of us.  Why is it that CA bettors can\'t get a rebate that is offered on YOubet, because of the greedy bastards at the TOC. Why did KY stop testing for milkshakes?  They couldn\'t publish the results. They should just build slot machines at these places and just let us bet on Hong Kong races.  They bottom line is this, you have greedy track owners(Magna, CD, NYRA, Del Mar all included), greedy horse owners(always complaining that they lose money, then get the fuck out of the game if you\'re losing money), greedy politicinas, dirty trainers and an aging fan base.  This does not bode well for the future(but Stronach spent over half billion so far!!!).  There will always be horse racing but we will probably end up with something like SCAL for part of the year(the racing is really bad) and NCAL for the rest of the year with only SAR being the meet.  Well enough rambling.

[Delmar Deb]

As I told Jerry when he said essentially the same thing, you can\'t convince the state legislators to allow you to reduce the takeout (even with the proof that Barry Schwartz had) until you can get the crowds back at the track.

Slots won\'t do it because the people who go to Charlestown or the other racetrack casinos don\'t even have to walk through the track to get there; but the race goers usually have to go through the casino.

And slots won\'t further the game or the industry for long-term survival.  Tell me how many new fans of horseracing have come out of the casino rooms long enough to look at a racing form or even a horse?

When the Del Mar spokesman tells the local television audience on opening day that \"there are no horses in the Del Mar ads for a reason\"; that \"this meet is not for hardcore handicappers\"; and it\'s all about the \"social aspects - eating and drinking\"...you have more basic problems to deal with than the inflated and admittedly problematic takeout.

And if you continue to point to the take-out, you are giving the people who run the tracks another excuse for inaction because the takeout is not something they can effect changes in unilaterally.  And once again, they can say...\"the fault dear Brutus is not in us but in our stars\".

     

[so.cal.fan]

I am an occassional lurker on this forum....however, I just registered to answer this thread.


I am hopeful Del Mar Deb\'s letter will be read by all the powers that be.
It states facts they can\'t deny.
OPM makes some valid points as well.
We could write a book on many of these issues.
I am going to write a letter to the editor of BH giving a head\'s up to Deb\'s letter.
I hope many of you will do the same.

DMD,

I live five minutes from Belmont. I love live racing and socializing at the track with people I\'ve known for many years. Despite that, it\'s tough to get me  to drive there to deal with the incremental costs and lower convenience (not to mention the lower take that is available away from the track).  

Nothing beats placing a bet online, going to the refrigerator for a beer, and relaxing on my sofa during the race. If I\'m going to skip a few races, I play a little poker, run a few errands, etc... and pick up right where I left off.  

If you can\'t get a guy like me out there, how are are you going to get the average guy or family who doesn\'t even think about \"take\", handicapping, the DRF etc... out there?

I think it\'s going to take more than just cutting costs, a comparable take, and a somewhat enhanced entertainment experience. It\'s going to take more great races. The kind that spark real sporting interest!  That\'s what would get me out there more often.  

I\'ve said it before and I\'ll say it again. IMO the future of industry is online betting.  This industry needs to be consolidated into a handful of supertracks that can support live racing on their own (in major markets) with super high caliber racing and betting coming in from all over the world.

That thought might be unpleasant for many, but IMO the rest of the industry needs to be slowly shrunk/eliminated. It doesn\'t make economic sense to have all these tracks all over the country wasting valuable real estate in an industry where practically everyone is losing their shirt and the only hope is slot machines that could easily be put into smaller facilities anywhere.

Racing can regain the old days of huge crowds and public interest, but only on a much more limited basis.  We can get there, but only by starting with sound economics. Times have changed.


 

[OPM]

I agree with you class.  Meets should be speacialized.  One in the east, south, midwest and west.  You don\'t have to close tracks, just not run them all at the same time.  Why does DEL, PHA, MTH, LRL run at the same time.  Run a meet every 2 wks at each track and rotate.  You can run more races, will have more horses and can run enough turf racing to keep everything excited.  You can have a $10 million pick all on a 14 race card and that may bring out the lottery players.  NYRA, and SCAL can do the same, NCAL should only run in the summer or from April-DEcember.  HOpefully this will happen but don\'t hold your breath.

OPM,

\"Meets should be specialized\"

Maybe if more meets around the country had a \"vacation-like\" atmosphere to them it would also help. It works for Saratoga and to some extent that\'s what makes Vegas a big draw. That would never work for a place like Aqueduct, but there\'s got to be a few tracks around the country that are located in areas very close to a lot of good dining, a nice town with evening entertainment, and other familiy activities.