Over the last 12 years of working around the business of harness racing, I find myself constantly dancing around the topic of purse money and marketing. After putting together another in a long line of depressing Power Point presentations on the decline in wagering, I have decided to take my foot off the brake.
The following are the handle numbers on Canadian standardbred racing over the past seven years:
• 2002 - $862,874,273
• 2003 - $805,556,860 (-6.6%)
• 2004 - $758,719,148 (-5.8%)
• 2005 - $730,142,949 (-3.8%)
• 2006 - $656,110,398 (-10.1%)
• 2007 - $552,973,835 (-15.7%)
• 2008 - $489,668,121 (-11.4%) (pro-rated based on data through mid October)
Over this period, 43.3% of the pari-mutuel handle has evaporated.
Horse wagering is the ONLY stable form of funding that keeps racing sustainable. Otherwise the product is an expense, completely expendable at the whim of casino companies, racetrack operators and governments more interested in diverting slot money to schools and hospitals than to horsepeople.
As the global economy enters a worldwide downturn, excuses are already on their way. Don’t listen to them. We were going backward when the economy was flying high. The greatest period for the history of North American horse racing actually came during the Great Depression when racetracks and gambling offered a welcome distraction in the face of huge unemployment and desperation.
In 2007, $224 million was allotted to Canadian standardbred purses, most of which came from slot funding in comparison. According to a recent independent study conducted in Canada by HLT Advisory Inc., the horse racing sector spent $8 million (1.6%) of its total revenues on marketing the sport. Bingo spent $27 million (3.9%), lotteries: $227 million (6.5%) and Casinos: $671 million (8.9%).
The message is clear. Our failure to reinvest in promoting the sport is suicidal. In seven years, North Americans have decreased their pari-mutuel spend on the Canadian standardbred product by $373 million and we have toiled around the $8 million marketing figure for all that time.
Taking $25 million from purses toward development, promotion, marketing and technological change, if done properly, may make an impact. How about $50 million? This funding must be directed toward a well thought out plan for the revitalization of the sport and it must be paid annually.
For those seething at the suggestion of directing purse money to marketing efforts, convinced the lost funds will put horsepeople out of business, I suggest the following: the sport will die and you will sit idly by while it happens. Funding will dry up and this solution will cease to be an option.
For those who feel that racetracks already have money to market the product, here’s another reality: many of them would like to see racing disappear to allow their slot and casino operations to thrive. You can force someone to offer a racetrack and perhaps turn on the lights, but you can’t ever force them to care. Those that do care are faced with a business proposition so daunting they couldn’t possibly do it alone. Put up the money – significant money, ask the tracks to be real partners, and move forward.
You have a real stake. As a partner, you must make tough choices to stop the hemorrhaging. You must invest your money into the business. You must face reality and deal with it head on.
Tell your horsemen’s groups, write letters, do whatever you have to do to invest and build the business. Not sports betting, nor new property development, nor more slots or full casinos will save this sport. Until customers and potential customers are convinced they want to watch and wager on the product we put on, the industry is a runaway train heading for a cliff. With every lost pari-mutuel dollar, the need to have horses, barns and horsepeople is further diluted.
The answer stares us in the face but it will take enormous courage and sacrifice to save the day. The corporate graveyard is filling with companies and industry sectors that failed to make appropriate and prudent decisions in the face of concerning numbers.
I’ll be the bad guy for saying it. You can be the hero for acting.
I totally agree that horse
I totally agree that horse racing needs to be sustained by the wagering, but it should also be sustained by government help given the amount of people the industry employs. I am not referring to handouts here but rather help in the form of incentives, perhpas tax breaks etc. etc. Any tax breaks would easily be offset by taxes collected from the people the industry employs. Casinos were not the way to go and Frank Stronachs vision has been all wrong. We do not need racetracks to look , sound and feel like Vegas. Racetracks should be about racing and putting people in the stands. Teletheatres, home betting accounts and anything that takes people away from the track in my view has a negative effect.
I totally agree that horse
I totally agree that horse racing needs to be sustained by the wagering, but it should also be sustained by government help given the amount of people the industry employs. I am not referring to handouts here but rather help in the form of incentives, perhpas tax breaks etc. etc. Any tax breaks would easily be offset by taxes collected from the people the industry employs. Casinos were not the way to go and Frank Stronachs vision has been all wrong. We do not need racetracks to look , sound and feel like Vegas. Racetracks should be about racing and putting people in the stands. Teletheatres, home betting accounts and anything that takes people away from the track in my view has a negative effect. You can shoot a cannon ball through the track without hitting anyone. It is so empty and drivers are racing to empty grandstands.
Also I beg to differ from our american bettor comment. Our drivers, while they may be skilled are also very boring. Here it Woodbine they only race the first and last qquarter and in between it's a parade. Take a walk through the stands on any given night and listen to the actual bettors comments. It's usually something like "when are you going to move" or "why doesn't my guy move". Let's face it, at Woodbine the drivers and trainers are all too chummy chummy and no-one wants to upset anyone by parking them out or boxing them in. They all just race for cheques as opposed to racing for winning . Unlike the dirvers and races at the Meadowlands where the lead switches numerous times before the horses even hit the half way mark in the race. I see 30-1 shots going to the half in 54 over there while at Woodbine any horse over 10-1 goes to the back and doesn't move. B-O-R-I-N-G not to mention not competitive. Before I get hung to dry here liek I don't know what I'm talking about let me just say I was a former standbred owner and have been a racing fan for over 35 years.
Well that's my two cents.
Signed
Longing for the RACING of the past.
AS AN AMERICAN BETTOR, I
AS AN AMERICAN BETTOR, I LOVE THE CANADIAN PRODUCT.THE HONESTY LEVEL APPEARS TO BE HIGH
AND THE QUALITY OF RACING IS VERY COMPARABLE TO WHAT WE SEE IN THE STATES.THE DRIVERS ON THE WEG CIRCUIT ARE TOP NOTCH AND THE TRAINERS ARE MAYBE BETTER THAN WHAT WE HAVE DOWN HERE. A FEW TIPS THAT MIGHT HELP THE HANDLE SITUATION WOULD BE:
1-DO NOT START ANY RACE AT WOODBINE OR MOHAWK AT THE SAME TIME AS THE BIG M. ALWAYS ADJUST YOUR POST TIME FOR EACH RACE BASED ON WHAT IS HAPPENING AT THE MEADOWLANDS. KEEP THE POST TIMES ABOUT 5 MINUTES APART.YOU CAN'T TRY TO RACE THESE 2 POWERHOUSES AGAINST EACH OTHER.
2-ADD ANOTHER PICK 4 LATER IN THE PROGRAM.ONE PICK 4 WAGER IS EQUAL TO ALL THE PIC-3 WAGERS IN ONE NIGHT.
If it were only so easy.
If it were only so easy. There are many problems in the sport and to lump them into a single marketing category would be incorrect. Granted the sport does need to be promoted, it needs to address many other issues as well, to make it more appealing to the bettors.
Bettors like consistency, so stick to a fixed start time and a regular weekly schedule for the entire year. Conclude the races before 10.45pm, I am sure there is a co-relation with the time of day and the amount wagered.
Reduce the number of races at B tracks and cordinate the conditions so better performing horses would have to race on the Wegz circuit. This will increase the number of starters in a race and should help make the race much more competitive. Who wants to wager on 4-5 shots all night?
There are so many other things we need to improve, but we must start somewhere. Once we make some positive changes, then promote the sport the way it should be and hopefully get the fans back to the track.