Breeders' Cup to ESPN

[Observer]

Was shocked to see the headlines that the Breeders' Cup will be moving to ESPN in a eight-year deal beginning in 2006 .. just because it seems like racing's biggest day should be on one of the major networks .. ABC, CBS or NBC.

BC to ESPN (http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=27863)

[michiken]

What was racing's slogan a few years back when they were trying to entice new bettors?

GO BABY GO.

This could not have been more than the truth because GO BABY GO means 'Take these freakin races to cable tv where we can earn more money for it'.

I will be watching at the track or on brisbet. No chance of comcast getting my dollar again.

[DJofSD]

If they do one thing, it will be a change for the better: get rid of the stupid sound feed of galloping hoofs during the race.

DJofSD

[andicap]

Racing's biggest day? What a joke. Ratings were always puny, About a 2 rating, maybe mid-2's. The Derby gets in the 6-8 range and the Belmont does really well when there's a Triple Crown contender.

The Derby is racing's biggest day as far as fan interest. As usual the sport has done such a terrible job promoting the Breeders Cup that no one outside of the hard-core fans give a hoot. None of the horses have any kind of identity or image in the public's mind. The Derby winner, a horse the public will actually remember, is rarely there having retired by then or been injured after his grueling spring.
Ghostzapper -- one of the best horses in years judging by his Beyer rating. How many people do you think have actually heard of him outside of us chickens? Almost zero. Nice promotion, NTRA and the tracks.

Its much much better off on ESPN. It will promote it a lot better than NBC ever did. NBC paid paltlry rights fees for it, not even sure they made money on it.
ESPN will give it the whole treatment -- promotion in the magazine, ESPN Radio, special shows leading up to in the week before with features on SportsCenter, ESPN Desportes, online, everything. What the hell did NBC do?

As for not giving Comcast your money, well that's your right but 85% of the people in this country subscribe to some sort of multichannel package, be it cable, satellite, or whatever. Like it or not ESPN is in the mainstream. It is no big deal now when something goes to ESPN. Broadcast could not support the BC because no one watched it. Its ratings were about equivalent to hockey which is on cable.

I laugh when people decry all the sports going to cable. Compared with what we had to watch 25 years ago when it was just the networks and local stations, we're in a Golden Age. Yeah it was free back then but the choices were pretty damn limited. I didn't get a daily recap show from my track. I didn't get a week's worth of special programming leading up to big races. I couldn't get a racing channel that gives me LIVE races to watch all day long.

If cable is too expensive for you, well, we could always go back to the good old days when you got whatever scraps the big networks gave you and liked it.

And don't give me the drivel about how poor people can't afford cable. Poor people tend to buy cable more because that's their entertainment. They don't go to fancy restaurants or go on cruises or buy $500 dresses. They buy cable. Maybe not HBO, but the low-tier packages.

[JohnGalt1]

I think the horse racing big shots are making a mistake with the move to ESPN.

I remember the '70s and '80s, when top boxing matches were on ABC almost every week. The average sports fan knew all of them. Ali, Hearns, Weaver, LeDoux, Holmes, etc. Other than rabid boxing fans can most people name even the 4 heavyweight champs?

Why is football more popular than baseball? One reason is more major channel television.

When did horse racing lose it's popularity with the public? Did reduced coverage by newspapers, radio and television have something to do with it?

I want as many races on television as possible, even though I'm probably at the track watching the signal.

Now we can argue that they do a crappy job. I don't have TVG, but I've read here that their coverage isn't the best. But it all is better than nothing.

I look at televised sports as advertising the sport---reaching out to new fans.

If you had a product you wanted to sell would you sell it on a network that reached 50-60% of homes or one of the big three networks?

The deal can't be undone, but the horse racing industry should try to get the races broadcast on ABC which owns ESPN. Like they for for the Super Bowl, ESPN could broadcast 3 hours early coverage and a one hour wrap up for those that want addtional coverage.

[andicap]

It would be nice if ABC aired the Classic -- that would make that race stand out a little more as the most important one. But I guess ESPN wants the whole shebang in order to brand itself as a major horse racing channel.
ESPN wants to be known as the destination for as many big sporting events as possible so I guess it might feel that if ABC aired the Classic it would take away from ESPN's brand identity.

Still I agree it would be best if at least the Classic were on broadcast TV.

[PaceAdvantage]

Ghostzapper -- one of the best horses in years judging by his Beyer rating. How many people do you think have actually heard of him outside of us chickens? Almost zero. Nice promotion, NTRA and the tracks.

Promote WHAT? The damn horse NEVER RUNS!! LOL

And on a side note, isn't Monday Night Football going to be on ESPN?

[Tom]

MNF is moving to ESPN.

Sounds like Andy has some cable stocks in his portfolio! :D

[Kreed]

I read that ESPN is gonna give 2 hrs more coverage to the BC. Also, the
majors WILL show ~4 races leading to the Classic. So I think, if true, the
BC did well.

[Valuist]

Its a good move. ESPN is about sports and at least has motivation to promote the BC. I read in Sunday's DRF that NBC was opposed to promoting or even mentioning the gambling aspect. In any event, I'm hoping that we can eliminate the horrible camera work that NBC and ABC both gave us. More (cameras) is not better.

[Lasix1]

Its a good move. ESPN is about sports and at least has motivation to promote the BC. I read in Sunday's DRF that NBC was opposed to promoting or even mentioning the gambling aspect. In any event, I'm hoping that we can eliminate the horrible camera work that NBC and ABC both gave us. More (cameras) is not better.
What? You didn't like Jockey Cam where you got to see the horse's ears bobbing up-and-down during the race? :)