The dolts at the USTA keep their incompetence record perfect

[InsideThePylons-MW]

Dean Hoffman has a front page article on the USTA about possible changes in harness racing.

Just incredible how out of touch these people are with everything.

He does not mention gambling or pricing once in the article.

He does have this great idea that will obviously revolutionize the sport and save it for future generations.....

"I’ve long thought that we should ditch the terms place and show for second and third. Ask the average person on the street what “place” means and he’ll likely tell you that place is where he lives, as in, “I’ve got a nice little place with three bedrooms and a fenced yard.” Ask that same guy what show means and he’ll say, “I like to take my wife to the show on Friday night.” Why confuse people unnecessarily with arcane terminology?"

This has to be an April Fool's Day joke....doesn't it?

How can the USTA and it's leaders be this fvcking stupid?

http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=37444&z=1

[Not4Love]

This guy MUST be lonely!! Give me $2.00 "for my horse to come in second and $2.00 for my horse to come in 3rd". This is so stupid.

[RaceTrackDaddy]

Dean Hoffman has known and written about all the stars in this sport for decades but for him to suggest this (changing the termination for place and show wagering) speaks volumes on his experience in gaming (none).

I have only one clear analogy from the Movie, "Let It Ride". Trotter's wife (Teri Garr) just made it to the track's Clubhouse and sat down at the table. Trotter has made some money (around 2k up from his initial $50 wager). Teri Garr looks around and wonders aloud why do these people jhave to bet on the races, can they not just come to watch?

That is the impression I am left with as I read that snip of the article.

[wilderness]

Dean Hoffman has a front page article on the USTA about possible changes in harness racing.

Just incredible how out of touch these people are with everything.



Just FYI.

Dean Hoffman has no been an employee of the USTA for at least a few years now.
Read the footer on the bottom of the article/web page.

The USTA has many writers that are paid as contractors by piece-work (both the website and in their publications). Even some for photo's on a smaller scale.

As far as Dean being out of touch?
The man has forgotten more they you, I or most could ever learn.

[wilderness]

as to the other replies?

The survival of harness is no longer focused upon the wagering pools (contrary to what ALL of us might wish), rather subsidation via VLT's and other non-horse gambling is what is temporarily holding the industry together.

Generally speaking, materials on the USTA website and in USTA publications is focused upon their membership (i. e., choir).

[InsideThePylons-MW]

Just FYI.

Dean Hoffman has no been an employee of the USTA for at least a few years now.
Read the footer on the bottom of the article/web page.

The USTA read it and used it. Nobody said he was an employee.

The USTA has many writers that are paid as contractors by piece-work (both the website and in their publications).

Why can't they pay somebody that is competent?

As far as Dean being out of touch?
The man has forgotten more they you, I or most could ever learn.

Obviously he has forgotten it.

Hey...After reading his article and his ideas....I'm sure he's one of the industry's go to guys which is one of the reasons the industry is flourishing right now.


I'm still standing by my thread title and post as being 100% accurate.

[InsideThePylons-MW]

as to the other replies?

The survival of harness is no longer focused upon the wagering pools (contrary to what ALL of us might wish), rather subsidation via VLT's and other non-horse gambling is what is temporarily holding the industry together.

That's a solid plan for the future of the industry.

Don't focus on wagering......just keep racing for casino welfare until it gets taken away and then we race for blankets.

[LottaKash]

That's a solid plan for the future of the industry.

Don't focus on wagering......just keep racing for casino welfare until it gets taken away and then we race for blankets.

ITP, I share your lament, as that surely seems the plan these days....

And yet, I am glad that we at least "still" have a means to enjoy and play at the game, that we so love....

I will continue to play, until one of us quits....:D...I hope that is not soon, tho...

best,

[wilderness]

"Save the industry?"

While reviewing "any" references to Louis Effrat (mentioned in Robert
Smith's Rewind on the SC website), stumbled across the following excerpt in
a 1966 Roosevelt Raceway file (and although I realize these stats have been
turned inside out-- the numbers comparison remains interesting):

"New York State's longest (989 programs), spread over nine association
productions at eight tracks enjoyed an overall record high of 9,392,452 in
attendance and $456,156,577 in mutuel handle. Additional dates accounted for increases in both categories, although the nightly averages decreased, of
course."
end of quote

The 2004 USTA Trotting and Pacing Guide provided the following stats for
2003 & 2004:
2003 attd-445,601 combined (includes OTB) handle-$275,390,591 days-802
2004 attd-379,115 combined (includes OTB) handle-$221,746,859 days-708

That's an approximate 50% reduction in handle/dollars and an approximate 95
reduction in attendance. Staggering.

What's to save?

[wilderness]

What's to save?

USTA Harness Racing Districts with little racing (not just pari-mutuel racing):

District 3
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Hawaii and Alaska

District 4
Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin

District 6
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia

District 9
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont

District 11
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia

There are also former major pari-mutuel circuits that have dwindled down to nothing.
California, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Maryland, with the latter once being home to four pari-mutuel tracks.

Kentucky and especially the track at Lexington has been subsidized by "the exclusive" since the beginning of time, it's part of the tradition.

[markgoldie]

Clearly Hoffman is one of the great historians of the sport. That being said, he's obviously not the person we would go to if we're talking about the gambling aspects of the game.

After several conversations with high-powered thinkers relative to the future of the sport- as I have written here before, gaming is the difference between what you now see and what would have been a landscape of Balmorals and Maywoods.

Unfortunately, the longer-term future is bleak, not only for harness racing, but t-bred racing as well. Why? The drop off of wagering that Wilderness cites was caused by what was intially believed to be two factors: (1) The expansion of alternative and less study-intensive forms of wagering and (2) Changing lifestyles in which people tended to stay at home more, while venturing out of the house at night less and less.

While factor (2) may have had an influence in past years, it's clear that factor (1) now rules the day, since on-line, at-home play has not stemmed the tide. The expansion of gambling is now and will continue to flourish. It's not necessary to cite all the reasons, but we all know that (A) politicians have an unending thirst for spending and (B) gambling taxation is a relatively painless way for them to get it.

The bottom line is that the trend is set and nothing at all can or will stop it. You can bring in all the most brilliant innovative marketing and bettor-friendly policies in the world, but they will only result in a small stop-gap to an overwhelming tide. So sooner or later, we will all be a cult of afficianados betting against each other. That is, if we aren't already. And the best advice to younger people wanting to make horse racing their life's work is DON"T.

[InsideThePylons-MW]

Clearly Hoffman is one of the great historians of the sport. That being said, he's obviously not the person we would go to if we're talking about the gambling aspects of the game.

His next article that USTA has featured shows exactly what you stated.

He starts off by saying that bettors are the most important people in racing. He then drops off the cliff and starts with the typical fan speak...Nascar comparison, entertainment, yadda yadda. He addresses no major issues with the bettors/betting....takeout, drugs, perception, etc. He just rambles on about nonsense and steakhouses while showing he has no clue or ideas about the topic of his article.

Scary stuff.

http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=37569&z=38

[InsideThePylons-MW]

"Save the industry?"

What's to save?

So basically the USTA and other industry leaders obviously have all given up?