Evan isn't kidding--more to come

[trigger]

Churchill's Evans says company set to take more big risks- June 22, 2007(3 pages):

"While he's either not sure or just not forthcoming about some of the "risks" that soon could affect Churchill and its four racetracks in four states, Evans promises one thing -- change is imminent. "

"The fan base demographics are not particularly positive," he said. "I guess we can either risk alienating them or letting them die off. Then, there's nobody to replace them."


http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2007/06/25/story3.html?from_yf=1

[betovernetcapper]

As a consumer, it's nice to feel valued.

[ponypro]

The only positive change is for shareholders to show Evans the door

[Good4Now]

So he's going to push for changing the minimum age to wager???

Start accepting checks at the mutuel windows???

Open Jai Lai fontons at all tracks???

Yes, Virginia...

[Good4Now]

that he will take a page from the playbook of Duchossois.
You may recall he shuttered Arlington Park for years UNTIL the Illinois Legislature revised and updated the laws applying to and effecting racing in Illinois.

So with a goal of fostering a National Horseracing Law to allow complete interstate wagering nationwide, rather than just the twelve states where it is legal now, he will take the steps to NOT make the signal and wagering available except in the states where his tracks are located.

Sorry, but I think even that Jamacain forecaster can see this one in the cards.

"Hey Mister! Can I have my ball back?"

[kenwoodallpromos]

"He came to Churchill with a background heavy in international technology and finance and light on direct knowledge of Thoroughbred racing."
He came to pull millions out of racing and sell tracks. Hell, I could do that!
He is on of those who thinks racing has fans; Somebody tell him all racing has is "FANatics"!LOL!!
"while being responsible with the capital assets of the shareholder... we'll have to take a bunch of risks."??? Take risks with whose money? The "fans"?
Cut services, raise the takeout, sell luxury season boxes, do not pay the janitor to sweep up losing tickets?

[kenwoodallpromos]

"Customers come first at our company. And our focus on customer service is what sets us apart from our competitors.

We've made it our mission to provide the highest-quality horse racing and entertainment experience by offering first-class customer service to our patrons, horsemen, business partners, employees, neighbors and shareholders. We take our customers' wants and needs into consideration with every business decision we make.

That's not just a promise. That's the way we do business.

We are Churchill Downs Incorporated."
_________
From the link:
"The risks are needed to attract a new generation of fans, he explained, acknowledging that such moves might upset the sport's core fan base.

"The fan base demographics are not particularly positive," he said. "I guess we can either risk alienating them or letting them die off. Then, there's nobody to replace them."
_______________
Stronach lite- he considers the horses AND the bettors disposable, and immediately replaceable. We'll see.

[Good4Now]

If he could get away with it he wouldn't distribute a signal at ALL and take money at the live racing track ONLY!

[ceejay]

"Customers come first at our company. And our focus on customer service is what sets us apart from our competitors.

We've made it our mission to provide the highest-quality horse racing and entertainment experience by offering first-class customer service to our patrons, horsemen, business partners, employees, neighbors and shareholders. We take our customers' wants and needs into consideration with every business decision we make.

That's not just a promise. That's the way we do business.

We are Churchill Downs Incorporated."

Hehehehe :lol:
Actions speak louder than words....

[Good4Now]

to play right into their hands.

Seems the Indiana Racing Commission actually did.

Reading through the Bloodhorse account it has been built into somebody's timeline for quite awhile.


*** I defer to PA's judgement as to whether to move this thread or leave it here ***

Why do I see a nation of Clean Garages, Freshly Painted Attics and well scrubbed Basement floors?

[DJofSD]

I think the whole idea that CDI operating a race track and at the same time offering internet wagering services is flawed. They should be doing one or the other but not both.

The model I use is that of the equities market. There is the stock exchanges and then there are the brokerage houses and the like. The exchanges make their money from the activity that takes place when they match up a buyer and a seller. Betting races, in general, is the same thing

I think CDI needs to run the venues. Some other organization needs to handle the handle.

Yes, things are changing. And getting away from the old paradigm of the race track operator being the end-all and be-all needs to be one of the things that changes.

[46zilzal]

If you access the U. of Arizona Symposia on horse racing or talk to any officials at the track (who are honest), they all state the same position: without young people coming into the sport, there will be no one left after the current fan base ages itself out of a supporting role.

I have heard time after time that the younger crowd has several intrinsic problems: 1) lack of enough surplus funds to make substantial wagers 2) ignorance of the advantages of the selective risks inherent in parimutuel vs. casino gambling 3) unwillingness to follow the 'slower' pace of wagering on races vs. casinos and 4) unwillingness to spend the necessary apprenticeship required to become good at parimutuel vs. "dumb luck" wagering of casino gambling.

This is why the 'marriage' of the race tracks and casinos (the racino) seems to be (to date) the only long range approach to reach the younger crowd. It is management's hope that once there, they will pick up on how much greater a chance occurs at the parimutuels than at casino games which are based upon a negative expectation.

I lecture on handicapping all the time and my most receptive audiences are all boomers and above. The younger set just wants a quick return without the time required to master the subject. The common scenario, I find from their feedback, is frustration followed by elimination of parimutuels from their entertainment choice.

You can bring a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Too bad as they don't know what they are missing.

[prospector]

hoosier park today had the signals for arlington and ellis pulled from them..

don't know why

[DJofSD]

Reason for no signals in Indiana today. From the PA home page. (http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=40368&source=rss)

[prospector]

hoosier park today had the signals for arlington and ellis pulled from them..

don't know why
i stand corrected, it was calder, not ellis..
senior moment..

[betovernetcapper]

It seems that the IHRC has begun it's own boycott Tracknet program. :jump:

[GoBabyGo]

this is all bob evans. he he has always done business this way. he was like this when he was in the venture capital business. he resigned from a company called i2 technology right before they were indicted by the sec and paid a $100 million fine. his idea is to burn through the industry like sherman through atlanta and grab market share any way he can. all he is interested in is pumping up chdn share price cashing in his options and walking away. if we let him he will gut this game. he is a perfect fit at cd which had a former executive meeker that made his employees watch his dogs and cut his lawn on the weekends. everyone in the racing business knows this but i dont think anyone will have the balls to do anything about it. look at how cd f****d ron geary. ron is a really good guy but i dont think he saw this coming. they sell him a track and refuse to distribute his signal and he bleeds every day. elp is down like 25% in handle because you cant bet it anywhere.

i will do whatever anyone wants to do as far as boycott procott whatever but this is exactly what i said would happen. ok so you can say you heard it here first. meca bk within 45 days. gemstar is sold and buyer closes tvg. cd buys xpressbet. youbet goes out of business. i hear maybe on that one. by january pretty much the only place you will be able to wager is through cd. i know that this is the plan they are working from.

[JustRalph]

this gets nastier and nastier every day........... :bang:

[betovernetcapper]

what gobabygo said

[racefinder2]

in perspective.

DJofSD ideas make sense, that its very difficult to control the signals, run the venues, and run the internet wagering platforms, and be successful at all of them.

Pardon my naivete, but some of these other comments border on so far out and paranoid that I wonder......

CD is going to "pull millions out of racing" ? ? ? Last I knew they were putting millions INTO racing at their facilities, betting systems, etc...

"How easy it it is playing into their hands", "built into someones timeline for quite a while....." "Freshly painted attics and well scrubbed floors", what this stuff means is way beyond my comprehension.........

"If he could get way with it, he wouldnt distribute the signal at all"
This is crazy--most of the handle and money flow on the Derby and CD meet/and other revenues through track-owned simulcasting is generated off track....and last I heard the company still gets all that revenue as a percentage of the handle/as takeout--fees to the simulcast outlets...if theyre planning on raising their fee, well, what else is new? Its a competitive marketplace...if the simulcast centers, tracks, TVG or ADWs wont pay up, well, l guess it's 'welcome to the real world...' Isnt playing hardball with suppliers, retailers, and distributors part of doing business...?

I can bet on all sorts of tracks via simulcasting, including all these CDI/Tracknet ones---other than on the internet, of course.....which is what all this wrangling is about--keeping the signal and trying to control it--in state and not wanting customers driving over to adjacent states to bet---or staying at home and betting via the internet-this reminds me of blackouts of local sports events, etc..if theyre playing hardball vs a neighboring states or a competitors betting facilities, well, what else is new? Business people are, as a rule, NOT 'nice guys'.
.last I heard, CD only ran 1 meet in the spring and one in the fall, and if theyre selling their other tracks, well, so what? They sold Ellis, Hollywood, and one other one as far as I remember.
If they screw it up and it makes the handle go down, well, then they failed in their strategies...and if they want to become a real estate developer instead of a racetrack owner, well, if thats what their stockholders want, who's to gainsay them? But Churchill planning a fire sale of racing assets? Thats not likely...And whatever is meant by statements like "Handle is no longer a Key metric" or whatever. thats just strange......if this guy screws up the company, its his job thats on the line, right? And you all think the President of CD is out to 'gut the game' for his own personal gain, and will succeed at it ??? Insane.......

As far as "without young people coming into the sport", well, the trainers, owners, and bettors seem to be getting younger all time, from my POV and not a 'company line' or position....and what about all these 'Poker Youths', once they get older and want new challenges or greener pastures, why not betting on racing? it seems like a challenge they can pick up on-especially if it starts coming over the 'net.....without hassles, fees, poorly designed interfaces, lack of quality video, ease of money transfers, legality questions, etc. I'm almost certain someone is getting this together as I type this....

Besides, theres always other tracks to bet on....
The one thing I sense is that a lot of track mgmts do not have a lot of confidence that they can grow the handle, yet the handle grows on good, competitve racing regardless....thats a fact. And even moreso with a good internet platform thats widely distributed and accessible to the mainstream. Maybe investors are just getting greedy or impatient at CD.....

So whats the big problem? Last I heard they cant stop Saratoga from running....or putting in Polytrack for that matter......:)

[betovernetcapper]

Besides, theres always other tracks to bet on....
)
I couldn't agree more and these are the tracks I bet on, along with their time zones
ARP-M
ASD-C
ALB
CBY-E
CNL-E
DED-C
EVD-C
FMT-C
FP-C
FE-E
HAW-C
IND-E
LA-P
LAD-C
MNR-E
NP-M
RUI-M
HOU-C
STP
SUF-E
SUN-M
SRP-M
TUP-M
TP-E
YAV-M

Who needs Tracknet?

[horses721]

How is TVG withholding their exclusive signals of New York Racing and Monmouth from Churchill (tracknet) such a good thing? Most people on these boards think TVG is the good guy in this battle. I don't know why. They can only take wagers from 12 states so that leaves me and many others out in the dark. Not being able to wager on New York racing, especially Saratoga, doesn't have me to happy.

[NoCal Boy]

Youbet takes the TVG signals in 38 states so simply sign up with them if you want to play NYRA, etc. so bad. You even get a $50 bonus for signing up.

If I want to play the TrackNet tracks, I can sign up with Xpressbet. I choose not to, and I shouldn't have to do it, but there is a way to wager on them if I really wanted to wager there.

[horses721]

You hate tracknet because you feel you shouldn't have to sign up with another service to play their tracks.

Below is your quote NoCal
"If I want to play the TrackNet tracks, I can sign up with Xpressbet. I choose not to, and I shouldn't have to do it, but there is a way to wager on them if I really wanted to wager there."

Explain to me why I should be forced to sign up with Youbet if I want to play New York. For some reason you and others think that is ok for me to be forced to sign up with youbet and live with it yet you whine if you have to sign up for another service to get tracknet racing.

Get the facts and check the terms. If you were starting an online wagering company, the terms tracknet is offering you to take their signals is better for you than the terms that TVG is offering to take their exclusive signals. Why is TVG the good guy in this mess? You can't make money on the TVG terms so why would anybody deal with them. Try looking at the situation that way and your opinion might change. Their is a point where both sides could agree but TVG won't budge and let the competitive marketplace decide who is the better service. New York racing is a goldmine and they don't want to give it up for nothing. Then again, theNYRA holds a great part of the blame because they gave 1 company an exclusive agreement to their signal. As I have stated before, when is giving any company a monopoly good for the consumer?

[BIG49010]

Churchill knows how to keep fans, a friend of mine was sick with cancer, recoverd thank god, but couldn't go to the derby for the first time in 54 years. His daughter sold his tickets on ebay, and then Churchill sent him a nasty letter and revoked his tickets.

[betovernetcapper]

Churchill knows how to keep fans, a friend of mine was sick with cancer, recoverd thank god, but couldn't go to the derby for the first time in 54 years. His daughter sold his tickets on ebay, and then Churchill sent him a nasty letter and revoked his tickets.

Utterly amazing :ThmbDown:

[kenwoodallpromos]

The problem is all source handle is down from 2003 level each year since then, racing is so lablor intensive that 20%+ takeout averave is not enough, but slots at 5% or less "takeout" with only a 1-arm investment. So bettors are ignored and everybody wants slots to keep the races going. No losing betting slips to sweep up!

[BillW]

How is TVG withholding their exclusive signals of New York Racing and Monmouth from Churchill (tracknet) such a good thing? Most people on these boards think TVG is the good guy in this battle. I don't know why. They can only take wagers from 12 states so that leaves me and many others out in the dark. Not being able to wager on New York racing, especially Saratoga, doesn't have me to happy.

Probably because Tracknet started this whole thing of exclusion. Prior to May TVG licensed everyone, just charged more. Not great, but not total exclusion either.

[horses721]

TVG charges more for a sublicense agreement so why should another service want to deal with them if they can't make any money by signing one of these deals ? Churchill stopped giving TVG their signal because TVG wanted more money back for their exclusive signals (NYRA) thant tracknet was charging for theirs. There is a point in the middle where both sides could make money. TVG wants to keep their money to themselves on the signals they have exclusive rights to. TVG is not the hero that everybody on this message board makes them out to be. They are holding out now because they can afford to. When winter racing comes around and they can't offer California racing or Gulfstream, I'm sure they will come to the table and try a little harder to work on an agreement with Tracknet. New York racing is their big money maker and they won't give that up until they have to. Then you will realize TVG is not the hero for the betting public they are made out to be.

[ddog]

The problem is all source handle is down from 2003 level each year since then, racing is so lablor intensive that 20%+ takeout averave is not enough, but slots at 5% or less "takeout" with only a 1-arm investment. So bettors are ignored and everybody wants slots to keep the races going. No losing betting slips to sweep up!

And that's why any sane person will realize you must cut back on the nbr of tracks , not the nbr of races.
It will happen, it's just a question of how painfull it will be for all involved.

[Kelso]

Churchill knows how to keep fans, a friend of mine was sick with cancer, recoverd thank god, but couldn't go to the derby for the first time in 54 years. His daughter sold his tickets on ebay, and then Churchill sent him a nasty letter and revoked his tickets.


Did your friend share this this atrocious story with the likes of ESPN, DRF, the Sporting News, USA Today, 20-20, 60 Minutes, Fox News, etc? If not, it's not too late to try. This is the kind of story over which the talking heads salivate. Might get him his tix back. (I hope so.)

[JustRalph]

I agree with Kelso...........that sucks and should have been publicized.

What a bunch of bastards. I assume because of the Ebay action they took them. But it still sucks...........

[PaceAdvantage]

TVG is not the hero that everybody on this message board makes them out to be.

HUH?

Then you will realize TVG is not the hero for the betting public they are made out to be.

Double HUH? Now I've heard everything! TVG is bashed here more than anything....you sure you've got the right place?

[horses721]

"Chicago-area resident Richard Young, who originated the petition under his forum name of “betovernetcapper,” primarily blames TrackNet, the Churchill Downs Inc./Magna Entertainment Corp. consortium formed in March, for causing chaos in the ADW scene. He hopes to launch a Web site called boycotttracknet.com within in the next few days to help organize like-minded fans."

This comes from the August 23 article about paceadvantage members speaking up on the ADW problems. Sounds to me like paceadvantage is not upset with TVG on this. I haven't heard a mention of TVG being boycotted in this article or anywhere on the message boards.

Check out the tread for the petition you asked me to sign. How many times when an ADW was mentioned was tracknet criticized compared to TVG.
Can you please point out the thread which is similar to the Bob Evans/ Tracknet thread which is critical of TVG? I can't find one. Here a few others message boards here at pace against tracknet:Sick of Churchill, Magna, Woodbine - Horse Players unite or organize-Churchill VS the World . I'm still trying to find the message board here at Pace critical of TVG
Here is a suggestion, put up a poll and let members here vote for who they think started this mess. You might come up with a better response to what I said other than DUH. Open your eyes again and you will see that what I stated was more accurate than DUH.
Both sides are responsible for this mess but like I stated in the previous post, I feel that most members of this forum blame tracknet alone. Both sides are wrong but unfortunately, what I have read here and in the articles in the Bloodhorse, only tracknet is portrayed as the villian.

[Bruddah]

Just Guessing, maybe the suave and sophisticated Mgmt. at Tracknet aren't doing as good a job at Public Relations, with the handicapping/ bettors. In either case, I am not going to defend one over the other.

Duh, what difference does it make? :confused:

[PaceAdvantage]

It makes no difference unless you have a dog in this fight I suppose. Most of us have no dogs in this fight, but we get to "enjoy" acting as the ground these dogs are walking all over.

[PaceAdvantage]

This comes from the August 23 article about paceadvantage members speaking up on the ADW problems. Sounds to me like paceadvantage is not upset with TVG on this. I haven't heard a mention of TVG being boycotted in this article or anywhere on the message boards.

PaceAdvantage.com does not officially support ANY boycotts at this time. And don't think for one moment that posts by anyone other than myself reflect the views or opinions of this website.