Dancer's Image
09-15-2004, 12:05 AM
by Ken Weingartner, Tuesday, September 14, 2004 -
People want to gamble. This, I think it is safe to say, is an irrefutable fact.
Consider the lengths to which people will go to get a little action. People will pay to park their car at an airport, shell out money for airfare, and pay for accommodations -- all for the chance to lose money in Las Vegas. Heck, about 10,000 people drove through the tail end of a snowstorm just to attend the opening of video slots at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway in January.
Think about state lotteries. New Jersey, where I live, has two daily drawings for both its Pick-3 and Pick-4 games -- watching the numbers pop up after dinner wasn't enough, people wanted to see them at lunchtime, too. There's also Mega Millions, Pick-6 Lotto and Jersey Cash 5, plus the state has already introduced 42 different instant, or scratch-off, games this year. That's in addition to the 66 instant games, many of which are still available, put out in 2003.
March Madness? People who don't know "Boomer Sooner" (the Oklahoma fight song) from a boomerang are anxious to put their money down and fill out NCAA basketball tournament brackets. The Super Bowl? Ditto. And let's not forget the current poker craze.
Yet, total U.S. harness racing handle last year was down 4.64 percent, dropping from $2.77 billion in 2002 to $2.64 billion. Average daily handle was off by nearly 3 percent. On-track handle has dropped steadily since 1981; there have been only three years in which handle increased during that span, and only once was the growth more than 1 percent.
According to Christiansen Capital Advisors, which monitors gaming trends, slot machines generated $23.3 billion nationally in 2002, up from $9.2 billion in 1994. Nevada and New Jersey casinos have seen slots revenue increase 64 percent in the last 10 years while income from table games grew by half that amount.
Lottery revenues in New Jersey grew more than 5 percent in the past fiscal year, topping $2 billion in sales for a third straight year. Sales in New York increased 8.2 percent, from $5.39 billion to $5.84 billion. It was a fourth consecutive record year for sales in New York, and the $5.84 billion was more than the first 10 years of sales combined after the lottery started in 1976.
For the World Series of Poker, made wildly popular by ESPN, a record 2,756 people paid $10,000 to enter this year's event. The previous record -- a now paltry 839 -- was set just a year ago.
Anyway, the point is that there's gold in dem dar hills! We must find new and innovative ways to mine it, and be patient along the way. It seems many people want to see improvement, but they want to see it immediately. The fan base and financial foundation of this sport didn't erode in a year, and it won't be back in a year, either.
First, we need to offer simple and creative wagering possibilities. Granted, with the regulations facing the sport, making changes can be a hassle, if not downright difficult. But they must be explored. People are willing to play slots because they seem cheap -- only a nickel or a dime or a quarter! Yet if you play the maximum bet on each spin, you're usually plunking down somewhere between $1 and $2. A person can burn $20 in nothing flat, certainly in far less time than it would take playing $2 a race. For some reason, they don't mind.
Over Labor Day weekend, Hinsdale Greyhound Park in New Hampshire introduced 10-cent minimum betting on superfectas. Originally, the wager was only available on five races daily, however, it was so well received that by the end of the weekend, Hinsdale expanded the concept to all 15 races.
"Labor Day itself was the best in the 31-year history of greyhounds at HGP, and although I don't quite know if we can pin all the success on the new bet, it certainly created some buzz," said T.D. Thornton, the track's public/media relations director.
With the Dime Supers, the cost to box four runners is just $2.40, compared to $24 for a more traditional $1 box. To key a runner in the win spot over five others would be just $6 instead of $60. I've never bet a superfecta in my life, but all of a sudden I'm interested. You get only a tenth of the payout, but that's fine. People, I think, simply want action with a reasonable possibility of any type of return. Consider instant lottery tickets. A person buys a ticket for $5 and discovers it returns $3. Almost always that person will say, "I won $3," not, "I lost $2." It's human nature.
Thornton said the average Dime Super payout for Sept. 4-6 was 800-1, but because the track rarely offered superfectas previously, there was no data to which that figure could really be compared. Dime Supers generated about 10 to 12 percent of the track's total handle, on par with quinella pools, Thornton said.
"Right now we're sitting tight on any further expansion of dime betting," Thornton said. "We want to make sure we don't expand too quickly on this, and that we have time to see the bigger picture before restructuring other pools."
I believe the idea of Dime Supers should be brought to harness racing -- and expanded. In this day and age with computers doing all the mathematical work, it is time to consider all forms of fractional wagering. If someone wants to bet 50 cents to box three horses in an exacta or trifecta, essentially playing it like the Pick-3 lottery game, we should let them. In fact, we should encourage them.
People feel intimidated by racing. Handicapping can be difficult for the beginner. Many novices would be happy just to bet birthdays or street addresses or other significant numbers. But many, I think, are put off by the idea of having to plunk down $6 or $12 to box three horses in an exacta. For that kind of wager, they probably feel they should know what they're doing, and that's understandable. The reward doesn't justify the risk to them. But if you let them bet those birthdays for 60 cents there's virtually no risk and any reward is worthwhile. It's fun. In Australia, bettors can create exotic wagers at any denomination. Those wagers account for 20 percent of all bets through the national network there.
Which brings me to another point. The sport needs to continue a move into the realm of entertainment. Emphasis, through advertising and promotion, should be placed on attracting the twenty-something crowd and families by making a day or night at the races a social event. Look at the major and minor league baseball parks built in the last few years, there's much more to do around the parks than simply watch the game. This might be troubling to purists, but it certainly has improved attendance.
Parking and admission should be free. This is the case at some tracks, but not all. The few dollars gained by charging parking and admission will still come into the possession of the tracks, but through wagers. Again, consider the casinos -- they give away rooms, offer tickets to shows, and provide cheap meals. It seems people are much more willing to gamble with their money than spend it to buy something. Along those lines, programs should be no more than a buck.
Furthermore, we must improve our image, and it has nothing to do with the idea of cheating. I think people stay away from the track because they imagine it as a dingy, unseemly venue filled with undesirable characters much more than because they believe horses are doped or races are fixed. My father works with a woman whose family got caught up in the Smarty Jones craze during the Triple Crown; they were among the thousands of people who turned out just to watch the horse gallop around Philadelphia Park. After Smarty Jones lost the Belmont, my dad asked the woman if she was still interested in going to the track. She replied with disdain, "No, not with those degenerates."
I'm not a prude, but the behavior displayed and language heard on a regular basis at the track, even in the fine dining areas, leaves a lot to be desired. No other sports venue I've visited tolerates the type of behavior routinely encountered at the track. Casinos certainly don't; I've seen people quickly and efficiently escorted away by security for causing disturbances or being unruly. I believe that we cannot attract families or casual fans on a regular basis without improving in this area.
People want to gamble. People want to have a good time. We can provide opportunities for both if we are willing to be imaginative and try.
People want to gamble. This, I think it is safe to say, is an irrefutable fact.
Consider the lengths to which people will go to get a little action. People will pay to park their car at an airport, shell out money for airfare, and pay for accommodations -- all for the chance to lose money in Las Vegas. Heck, about 10,000 people drove through the tail end of a snowstorm just to attend the opening of video slots at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway in January.
Think about state lotteries. New Jersey, where I live, has two daily drawings for both its Pick-3 and Pick-4 games -- watching the numbers pop up after dinner wasn't enough, people wanted to see them at lunchtime, too. There's also Mega Millions, Pick-6 Lotto and Jersey Cash 5, plus the state has already introduced 42 different instant, or scratch-off, games this year. That's in addition to the 66 instant games, many of which are still available, put out in 2003.
March Madness? People who don't know "Boomer Sooner" (the Oklahoma fight song) from a boomerang are anxious to put their money down and fill out NCAA basketball tournament brackets. The Super Bowl? Ditto. And let's not forget the current poker craze.
Yet, total U.S. harness racing handle last year was down 4.64 percent, dropping from $2.77 billion in 2002 to $2.64 billion. Average daily handle was off by nearly 3 percent. On-track handle has dropped steadily since 1981; there have been only three years in which handle increased during that span, and only once was the growth more than 1 percent.
According to Christiansen Capital Advisors, which monitors gaming trends, slot machines generated $23.3 billion nationally in 2002, up from $9.2 billion in 1994. Nevada and New Jersey casinos have seen slots revenue increase 64 percent in the last 10 years while income from table games grew by half that amount.
Lottery revenues in New Jersey grew more than 5 percent in the past fiscal year, topping $2 billion in sales for a third straight year. Sales in New York increased 8.2 percent, from $5.39 billion to $5.84 billion. It was a fourth consecutive record year for sales in New York, and the $5.84 billion was more than the first 10 years of sales combined after the lottery started in 1976.
For the World Series of Poker, made wildly popular by ESPN, a record 2,756 people paid $10,000 to enter this year's event. The previous record -- a now paltry 839 -- was set just a year ago.
Anyway, the point is that there's gold in dem dar hills! We must find new and innovative ways to mine it, and be patient along the way. It seems many people want to see improvement, but they want to see it immediately. The fan base and financial foundation of this sport didn't erode in a year, and it won't be back in a year, either.
First, we need to offer simple and creative wagering possibilities. Granted, with the regulations facing the sport, making changes can be a hassle, if not downright difficult. But they must be explored. People are willing to play slots because they seem cheap -- only a nickel or a dime or a quarter! Yet if you play the maximum bet on each spin, you're usually plunking down somewhere between $1 and $2. A person can burn $20 in nothing flat, certainly in far less time than it would take playing $2 a race. For some reason, they don't mind.
Over Labor Day weekend, Hinsdale Greyhound Park in New Hampshire introduced 10-cent minimum betting on superfectas. Originally, the wager was only available on five races daily, however, it was so well received that by the end of the weekend, Hinsdale expanded the concept to all 15 races.
"Labor Day itself was the best in the 31-year history of greyhounds at HGP, and although I don't quite know if we can pin all the success on the new bet, it certainly created some buzz," said T.D. Thornton, the track's public/media relations director.
With the Dime Supers, the cost to box four runners is just $2.40, compared to $24 for a more traditional $1 box. To key a runner in the win spot over five others would be just $6 instead of $60. I've never bet a superfecta in my life, but all of a sudden I'm interested. You get only a tenth of the payout, but that's fine. People, I think, simply want action with a reasonable possibility of any type of return. Consider instant lottery tickets. A person buys a ticket for $5 and discovers it returns $3. Almost always that person will say, "I won $3," not, "I lost $2." It's human nature.
Thornton said the average Dime Super payout for Sept. 4-6 was 800-1, but because the track rarely offered superfectas previously, there was no data to which that figure could really be compared. Dime Supers generated about 10 to 12 percent of the track's total handle, on par with quinella pools, Thornton said.
"Right now we're sitting tight on any further expansion of dime betting," Thornton said. "We want to make sure we don't expand too quickly on this, and that we have time to see the bigger picture before restructuring other pools."
I believe the idea of Dime Supers should be brought to harness racing -- and expanded. In this day and age with computers doing all the mathematical work, it is time to consider all forms of fractional wagering. If someone wants to bet 50 cents to box three horses in an exacta or trifecta, essentially playing it like the Pick-3 lottery game, we should let them. In fact, we should encourage them.
People feel intimidated by racing. Handicapping can be difficult for the beginner. Many novices would be happy just to bet birthdays or street addresses or other significant numbers. But many, I think, are put off by the idea of having to plunk down $6 or $12 to box three horses in an exacta. For that kind of wager, they probably feel they should know what they're doing, and that's understandable. The reward doesn't justify the risk to them. But if you let them bet those birthdays for 60 cents there's virtually no risk and any reward is worthwhile. It's fun. In Australia, bettors can create exotic wagers at any denomination. Those wagers account for 20 percent of all bets through the national network there.
Which brings me to another point. The sport needs to continue a move into the realm of entertainment. Emphasis, through advertising and promotion, should be placed on attracting the twenty-something crowd and families by making a day or night at the races a social event. Look at the major and minor league baseball parks built in the last few years, there's much more to do around the parks than simply watch the game. This might be troubling to purists, but it certainly has improved attendance.
Parking and admission should be free. This is the case at some tracks, but not all. The few dollars gained by charging parking and admission will still come into the possession of the tracks, but through wagers. Again, consider the casinos -- they give away rooms, offer tickets to shows, and provide cheap meals. It seems people are much more willing to gamble with their money than spend it to buy something. Along those lines, programs should be no more than a buck.
Furthermore, we must improve our image, and it has nothing to do with the idea of cheating. I think people stay away from the track because they imagine it as a dingy, unseemly venue filled with undesirable characters much more than because they believe horses are doped or races are fixed. My father works with a woman whose family got caught up in the Smarty Jones craze during the Triple Crown; they were among the thousands of people who turned out just to watch the horse gallop around Philadelphia Park. After Smarty Jones lost the Belmont, my dad asked the woman if she was still interested in going to the track. She replied with disdain, "No, not with those degenerates."
I'm not a prude, but the behavior displayed and language heard on a regular basis at the track, even in the fine dining areas, leaves a lot to be desired. No other sports venue I've visited tolerates the type of behavior routinely encountered at the track. Casinos certainly don't; I've seen people quickly and efficiently escorted away by security for causing disturbances or being unruly. I believe that we cannot attract families or casual fans on a regular basis without improving in this area.
People want to gamble. People want to have a good time. We can provide opportunities for both if we are willing to be imaginative and try.