Will Churchill And Arlington Go On The Chopping Block?

[Horseplayersbet.com]

Bob Evans during the CD Earnings Call yesterday:
"In the absence of some other form of revenue or subsidy, or willingness on the part of track owners to simply eat their losses, the necessary determinant of which tracks survive and which won’t will be which have the right to conduct casino gaming. We have that right at Fair Grounds and Calder; we don’t at Churchill Downs and Arlington."

Evans said Churchill Downs will take a close look at the continued viability of its racing operations and alternative uses for those facilities.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/55683/churchill-downs-numbers-show-wagering-shift

[illinoisbred]

Is Mr. D still the majority shareholder in CDI? Slot-fueled racing in Iowa, Indiana,and upstart Presque Isle has lead to short fields, Polytrack,$7.00 admission($10.00 on Derby day this year) has kept a lot bettors away.Personally,I'm against slots but they'll come once the powers that be in the state of Illinois,the county of Cook,and the village of Arlington Heights can determine the best way to fatten their wallets first.

[toussaud]

Bob Evans during the CD Earnings Call yesterday:
"In the absence of some other form of revenue or subsidy, or willingness on the part of track owners to simply eat their losses, the necessary determinant of which tracks survive and which won’t will be which have the right to conduct casino gaming. We have that right at Fair Grounds and Calder; we don’t at Churchill Downs and Arlington."

Evans said Churchill Downs will take a close look at the continued viability of its racing operations and alternative uses for those facilities.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/55683/churchill-downs-numbers-show-wagering-shift

arlington? maybe

chruchill? no way in hell

[sandpit]

arlington? maybe

chruchill? no way in hell

Agreed...as long as the morons in charge at CD remember to unlock the gates on Oaks and Derby days, the place is a moneymaker. If the management's pps are any indication, they will fire all the rank and file employees while the VPs, which they have a ton of, will keep theirs.

His statement on the viability of CD seems somewhat hollow since they just spent a ton of $$$ putting in lights. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, I drove by the place last week, and it looks like a harness track now. Once they turn all those lights on, the neighbors around the track are gonna think a supernova is hitting them.

[Saratoga_Mike]

Other comments from Churchill conference call held yesterday: "Despite these trends in handle, we continue to make important investments in our racing business...."

He went on to list: all races at their tracks will be broadcast in HD format by the spring (KEE is the only other player to do that currently); installing track lighting at CD for six nights of night racing this yr; and they are funding the televising of six KY Derby prep races in March and April on NBC's Universal Networks.

[Robert Goren]

You heard here first. The Kentucky Derby at Indiana Downs.:rolleyes:

[johnhannibalsmith]

You heard here first. The Kentucky Derby at Indiana Downs.:rolleyes:

I was thinking more like the Derby at Thistle, right after they run the Oaks at River.

[rastajenk]

Now you're talkin'! :ThmbUp:

[The Hawk]

Does anyone else think we'll be watching the Derby at night within five years or so? I would think the effort and expense of installing lights is not just so they can run six night cards a year. Also, with the way television controls all sports, how much more money is a prime time Ky Derby worth to a network than a Saturday afternoon? It is all about the money, after all, and that's why those of us on the East Coast are only even money to catch the end of World Series games anymore.

Hey, if they can whore out the World Series, anything goes.

[Saratoga_Mike]

Does anyone else think we'll be watching the Derby at night within five years or so? I would think the effort and expense of installing lights is not just so they can run six night cards a year. Also, with the way television controls all sports, how much more money is a prime time Ky Derby worth to a network than a Saturday afternoon? It is all about the money, after all, and that's why those of us on the East Coast are only even money to catch the end of World Series games anymore.

Hey, if they can whore out the World Series, anything goes.

Someone posted the night Derby question on Steve Crist's blog a few months ago, so Steve asked a TV exec friend of his about the concept. It's only one person's opinion, but he thought it would probalby work well. So it may work for TV, but I wonder what it does to paid attendance and handle. Could there be better TV ratings and yet fewer people attending (on site) and betting (overall)?

[castaway01]

Does anyone else think we'll be watching the Derby at night within five years or so? I would think the effort and expense of installing lights is not just so they can run six night cards a year. Also, with the way television controls all sports, how much more money is a prime time Ky Derby worth to a network than a Saturday afternoon? It is all about the money, after all, and that's why those of us on the East Coast are only even money to catch the end of World Series games anymore.

Hey, if they can whore out the World Series, anything goes.

Playing baseball at night is "whoring it out"? What year are you living in, 1940? Ever check the baseball attendance figures in 1950, when it was "the national pastime" vs. now? Baseball attendance now dwarves the attendance then...guess playing at night killed it. Sarcasm.

I have no problem with the Derby at night, though traditionalists will bitch. If you put its current 6:30 ratings into prime time, the Derby would likely be in the top five TV shows for the week for the nation, maybe even number one...yeah, what a tragedy for racing. Who would want that?

[johnhannibalsmith]

Doesn't New York law make it impossible to bet on thoroughbreds during prime time on the simu-networks? I thought that at 7:30pm, it was strictly standardbred time until closing... :confused:

[Bettowin]

Did anyone see today that Oaklawn announced a purse increase for the second half of their season this year? Maybe there are just too many tracks and the industry needs to contract to save itself?

I was thinking about all the overhead that goes into the operation of a racetrack and maybe the future will be a track with barns and state of the art broadcast equipment. Very few seats and concessions for live fans. Run the races, broadcast and take bets.

[Robert Goren]

Playing baseball at night is "whoring it out"? What year are you living in, 1940? Ever check the baseball attendance figures in 1950, when it was "the national pastime" vs. now? Baseball attendance now dwarves the attendance then...guess playing at night killed it. Sarcasm.

I have no problem with the Derby at night, though traditionalists will bitch. If you put its current 6:30 ratings into prime time, the Derby would likely be in the top five TV shows for the week for the nation, maybe even number one...yeah, what a tragedy for racing. Who would want that? Dream on. The tv ratings would go up but a top five show, I don't think so

[The Hawk]

Playing baseball at night is "whoring it out"? What year are you living in, 1940? Ever check the baseball attendance figures in 1950, when it was "the national pastime" vs. now? Baseball attendance now dwarves the attendance then...guess playing at night killed it. Sarcasm.

I have no problem with the Derby at night, though traditionalists will bitch. If you put its current 6:30 ratings into prime time, the Derby would likely be in the top five TV shows for the week for the nation, maybe even number one...yeah, what a tragedy for racing. Who would want that?

Umm...do you think the fact that there are 30 teams now has something to do with attendance figures being bigger? How about more games? How about bigger stadiums? The corporate tickets? Transportation? Playing at night is why it's up, though, huh?

Sarcasm is one thing, stupidity is another.

[affirmedny]

Doesn't New York law make it impossible to bet on thoroughbreds during prime time on the simu-networks? I thought that at 7:30pm, it was strictly standardbred time until closing... :confused:
They repealed that so OTB could take Mountaineer, et al on weeknights. NYRA and Yonkers allowed it in exchange for a piece of the action. OTB was so grateful that they never paid NYRA or Yonkers and I believe that is a good hunk of the money OTB owes out that has forced them to attempt to declare bankruptcy.

[affirmedny]

I was thinking about all the overhead that goes into the operation of a racetrack and maybe the future will be a track with barns and state of the art broadcast equipment. Very few seats and concessions for live fans. Run the races, broadcast and take bets.

And you can name that track of the future "Gulfstream".

[johnhannibalsmith]

They repealed that so OTB could take Mountaineer, et al on weeknights. NYRA and Yonkers allowed it in exchange for a piece of the action. OTB was so grateful that they never paid NYRA or Yonkers and I believe that is a good hunk of the money OTB owes out that has forced them to attempt to declare bankruptcy.

Thank you for the update!