WINMANWIN
02-15-2003, 11:13 PM
Cushy comforts of home one day may include betting from couch
New cable channel offers
By Joe Nolan STAFF WRITER
Sitting comfortably in his cushy recliner, the handicapper reads the number of his horse out of the Daily Racing Form. With his other hand, the horseplayer punches his wager into his remote and then sets it down on the end table.
In two minutes, the feature race at Golden Gate Fields will be shown live, and the handicapper will never have had to get out of his recliner to enjoy the handicapping, the wagering or the thrill of watching live horse racing.
"That's the ultimate goal -- it's maybe a year or two away, but that's where we're going," Horse Racing TV president Bill Bridgen said. "Right now, we're taking our first steps, and we just have to be patient."
Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows, recently announced the launch of Horse Racing TV, a 24-hour cable television network dedicated to showing live racing from around the country.
HRTV carries exclusive coverage of 13 tracks affiliated with Magna and has access to live coverage of 60 other North American tracks. A few of the more prestigious tracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, Lone Star Park and Pimlico Race Course, as well as the two Bay Area tracks.
Bridgen said HRTV would eventually like to have access to every prominent racing venue, but currently it does not have access to NYRA or Churchill
Downs. Many of those tracks have regional television deals, and as HRTV penetrates more markets, those tracks will have two stations airing live horse racing. For the Bay Area, where Magna owns the two primary tracks, HRTV will be the only network for in-home live horse racing.
On a given day on HRTV, there could be up to 15 hours of post parades, odds, race results and live racing. The other nine hours are filled with replays and educational programming related to horse racing.
As for which races HRTV chooses to air live, Bridgen said each day's program is determined by fan interest, which the network gauges by the handle. And until the remote is a viable wagering tool, bets can be placed through a telephone or Internet account.
There is some concern in the industry that HRTV and its competitors will have a detrimental affect on on-track attendance. But much like satellite wagering, most tracks are tolerant of a dip in on-track attendance if the handle increases.
"I would assume it will have some negative impact on track attendance," said Jack Liebau, president and CEO of Magna's west coast tracks. "It's more convenient at home. But we wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't going to increase overall betting."
Many handicappers will likely use HRTV as a supplement, a way of catching individual races of interest. For a full card, the only way a horseplayer will get to see every race is at the track or at a satellite wagering facility.
"It's going to hurt track attendance, that's the old refrain," Bridgen said. "The movie industry thought Blockbuster would hurt attendance, but it's done the opposite. TV creates more and more interest in the product.
"It's always going to be better at the track. This won't stop people from going to the track, but it will create in-home attendance."
Currently, the in-home attendance is limited as HRTV is carried in only a handful of cable packages around the country. For a new network to become part of a cable package, it's a competitive and difficult process. There are more stations than there are spots available on cable packages.
Still, according to Bridgen, it's a matter of when HRTV gets added to digital cable packages, not if.
"We've pitched the cable companies on the terms, and we would be paying them which is the opposite of how it usually works. So they're very much interested. It's just a slow process," Bridgen said.
When HRTV does become an established part of the digital package, the rewards for horse racing could be exactly the spark the sport needs.
"This is an effort to bring the races to the people," Liebau said. "You generate racing fans through on-track experience. After that, it's a convenience -- satellite wagering and now TV. And hopefully, you attract some new fans to the industry."
New cable channel offers
By Joe Nolan STAFF WRITER
Sitting comfortably in his cushy recliner, the handicapper reads the number of his horse out of the Daily Racing Form. With his other hand, the horseplayer punches his wager into his remote and then sets it down on the end table.
In two minutes, the feature race at Golden Gate Fields will be shown live, and the handicapper will never have had to get out of his recliner to enjoy the handicapping, the wagering or the thrill of watching live horse racing.
"That's the ultimate goal -- it's maybe a year or two away, but that's where we're going," Horse Racing TV president Bill Bridgen said. "Right now, we're taking our first steps, and we just have to be patient."
Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns Golden Gate Fields and Bay Meadows, recently announced the launch of Horse Racing TV, a 24-hour cable television network dedicated to showing live racing from around the country.
HRTV carries exclusive coverage of 13 tracks affiliated with Magna and has access to live coverage of 60 other North American tracks. A few of the more prestigious tracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, Lone Star Park and Pimlico Race Course, as well as the two Bay Area tracks.
Bridgen said HRTV would eventually like to have access to every prominent racing venue, but currently it does not have access to NYRA or Churchill
Downs. Many of those tracks have regional television deals, and as HRTV penetrates more markets, those tracks will have two stations airing live horse racing. For the Bay Area, where Magna owns the two primary tracks, HRTV will be the only network for in-home live horse racing.
On a given day on HRTV, there could be up to 15 hours of post parades, odds, race results and live racing. The other nine hours are filled with replays and educational programming related to horse racing.
As for which races HRTV chooses to air live, Bridgen said each day's program is determined by fan interest, which the network gauges by the handle. And until the remote is a viable wagering tool, bets can be placed through a telephone or Internet account.
There is some concern in the industry that HRTV and its competitors will have a detrimental affect on on-track attendance. But much like satellite wagering, most tracks are tolerant of a dip in on-track attendance if the handle increases.
"I would assume it will have some negative impact on track attendance," said Jack Liebau, president and CEO of Magna's west coast tracks. "It's more convenient at home. But we wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't going to increase overall betting."
Many handicappers will likely use HRTV as a supplement, a way of catching individual races of interest. For a full card, the only way a horseplayer will get to see every race is at the track or at a satellite wagering facility.
"It's going to hurt track attendance, that's the old refrain," Bridgen said. "The movie industry thought Blockbuster would hurt attendance, but it's done the opposite. TV creates more and more interest in the product.
"It's always going to be better at the track. This won't stop people from going to the track, but it will create in-home attendance."
Currently, the in-home attendance is limited as HRTV is carried in only a handful of cable packages around the country. For a new network to become part of a cable package, it's a competitive and difficult process. There are more stations than there are spots available on cable packages.
Still, according to Bridgen, it's a matter of when HRTV gets added to digital cable packages, not if.
"We've pitched the cable companies on the terms, and we would be paying them which is the opposite of how it usually works. So they're very much interested. It's just a slow process," Bridgen said.
When HRTV does become an established part of the digital package, the rewards for horse racing could be exactly the spark the sport needs.
"This is an effort to bring the races to the people," Liebau said. "You generate racing fans through on-track experience. After that, it's a convenience -- satellite wagering and now TV. And hopefully, you attract some new fans to the industry."