+50% of Racetracks doomed in 5yrs?

[BombsAway Bob]

Chairman of Arlington Park & The Duchossois Group, 88-year-old Richard is

THE LARGEST STOCKHOLDER of CHURCHILL DOWNS, INC.

http://www.drf.com/drfNewsArticle.do?NID=114155 (http://www.drf.com/drfNewsArticle.do?NID=114155)

A few fun facts about this titan of racing...

A.) "I'm not a racetrack person"

B.) " No one (in the racing industry) wants to give up control."

C.) "In 5 years, I don't think there will be 25 real tracks left in America.

I can count 17, but i'm saying 25 because i don't know which states

are going to get slot machines and that sort of stuff."

D.) What's your Favorite kind of food? "I'd say McDonalds."

Pretty scary thinking about racings' future!

[JustRalph]

Let's hope he is right

[Zman179]

Dick is, after all, the one who rebuilt Arlington from the ashes.

It's ok to not be a racetrack person as long as you know what your customer wants. For years, Arlington has had one of the highest customer service levels of a racetrack in North America.

[illinoisbred]

Dick is, after all, the one who rebuilt Arlington from the ashes.

It's ok to not be a racetrack person as long as you know what your customer wants. For years, Arlington has had one of the highest customer service levels of a racetrack in North America.
It's strange he made those remarks. I've always thought of him as a racetrack person. When I used to regularly attend he was there every day talking to patrons wanting to know what could be done to make their experience even better. Everything was 1st class at Arlington back in the day he ran the show.

[thaskalos]

It's strange he made those remarks. I've always thought of him as a racetrack person. When I used to regularly attend he was there every day talking to patrons wanting to know what could be done to make their experience even better. Everything was 1st class at Arlington back in the day he ran the show. When he closed Arlington Park down because he didn't get the tax breaks he wanted from the state, he gave a scathing interview in the Daily Herald (a local newspaper), in which Mr. Dick D. showed his true colors.

He stated that he had no real interest in horse racing, and seldom even watched his own horses run. The only reason he rebuilt Arlington after the fire, he said, was as a favor to his good friend, then IL. governor Jim Edgar.

Closing down the track was how he chose to repay us faithful Illinois racing fans, who supported him and sweated in those tents in 90+ degree heat, before the new track was built.

A real classy individual...

[illinoisbred]

I remember those tents with the astroturf flooring-ugh!

[rwwupl]

When he closed Arlington Park down because he didn't get the tax breaks he wanted from the state, he gave a scathing interview in the Daily Herald (a local newspaper), in which Mr. Dick D. showed his true colors.

He stated that he had no real interest in horse racing, and seldom even watched his own horses run. The only reason he rebuilt Arlington after the fire, he said, was as a favor to his good friend, then IL. governor Jim Edgar.

Closing down the track was how he chose to repay us faithful Illinois racing fans, who supported him and sweated in those tents in 90+ degree heat, before the new track was built.

A real classy individual...

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"We are a participatory sport, not a spectator sport. Our bettors are competing against each other. This fact should be a marketing focus"

Richard Duchossois...DRF interview,1994


Sounds like he has a good grasp of things as far as I am concerned. He built one of the most fan friendly race tracks in America at Arlington.

Sorry you had to sweat in the tents before the new track was built.

If you believe a man builds a racetrack with the only motivation is a favor to a friend...he must be a very loyal friend... I wish there were more like him.

[thaskalos]

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"We are a participatory sport, not a spectator sport. Our bettors are competing against each other. This fact should be a marketing focus"

Richard Duchossois...DRF interview,1994


Sounds like he has a good grasp of things as far as I am concerned. The theory that "the bettors are competing against each other" has been the industry's marketing focus for many years now. We have been hearing it on TV and the radio on a regular basis...even now.

"In horse racing, the fans are betting against each other...not against the track", the radio ads say. But, of course, no sane person believes it.

Because, when the track keeps 17-30% from the pools every race, not only are the bettors betting against the track too...but the track becomes the most formitable opponent around.

This is having "a good grasp of things"?

My anger against this man has little to do with me "sweating in the tents".

His interview in the Daily Herald was totally unnecessary, and he gave it because he wanted to vent against the lawmakers of Illinois, who deprived him of the huge tax breaks he was asking for.

The problem was, his ego and his temper got the best of him during the interview, and he ended up insulting the very people who had supported him thru some very trying times...THE FANS. Who could have guessed that this nice man who greeted us with a smile out at the track, had all this anger in him?

And when he finally got the tax breaks he was looking for, and he re-opened the track, he put on that fake smile and started greeting the fans out at the track all over again...like the interview never occurred.

[Stillriledup]

Funny you posted this because i thought about this for the first time last night. I was looking at Sunday's Hollywood card and saw a you know what load of 5 horse fields. With less tracks, there would still be the same amount of horses, which would mean there would be bigger fields all around the country. I'm not advocating 12 horse fields in every race, but i'd like at LEAST an 8 pack.

[Space Monkey]

The man's 88. His brain is probably fried. I wouldn't give much credence to his comments. He's got grumpy old man disease :lol:

[kenwoodall2]

McD's is not owned by Yum Foods!

[horses4courses]

Ten years ago, it was said that half the racetracks would be gone in 5-10 years.......that hasn't happened.

One constant in the horse racing industry....change is always resisted.

[thespaah]

I think a market correction is in the future.
There will be causalties. Tracks will close and a contraction will take place.
Let's see.....I believe SO Cal racing would be gone already if SA were not in existence. Hollywood is not a part of the future. Ohio. Currently Thistle and River run a concurrent meet with each track running 7 alternate races per day. How much longer can that last.
If New Jersey's "Elite Summer Meet" experiment at Mth does not pan out it could sound a death knell for NJ Thoroughbred racing altogether. Mth may close for good.
Maryland racing is in deep trouble. IS there a future in The Free State?.
With NY government in such disarray, how long can the bumbling idiots in Albany keep NYRA afloat.
Tell ya what. If NYRA goes down, the industry goes with it.
Yeah, the horse racing industry in the US is indeed in deep difficulty.
I beleive a market correction and a contraction of the indusrty is actually a good thing. Cull the weakest parts and rebuild.
Get all the powers that be in one room and keep them there until they hammer out an agreement that benefits the entire sport. End interjusrisdictional sqaubbles. Apply the US Constitution's Full faith and credit clause that essentially states an owners,/trainers or grooms license in one state is to be recognized in all states. Such as a driver's or marriage license.

[Striker]

I can tell you that the customer service and management at Arlington compared to that of Churchill Downs is like night and day. AP has no handle on any customer wants or needs from the 1st time visitors all the way up to their top level Vips. Hawthorne has a better business model and customer service than AP does IMO. Churchill is the only out of state track that I can say anything about because I have been there many times and anyone who didn't know that Churchill was affliated with AP would be shocked to find out that they actually are after visiting both. Is Arlington a cleaner facility on the ground level yes, but as far as the staff go there is no comparison. In AP's gold room(vip)there is not one AP staff member in there to help any of the customer with anything. There is 1 waitress that is all. Go to Churchill's gold room and you have 3-4 full time staff in the room at all times to assist the customers. They even have computers for the vips to use. Heck my girlfriend always says that she wishes we could go to CD all the time instead of AP and we live 20 minutes from Arlington because of the way she sees people being treated. This is nobody but AP's fault and they will suffer the consequences of their poor management of the track. Slots will not save them.

[badcompany]

"In horse racing, the fans are betting against each other...not against the track", the radio ads say. But, of course, no sane person believes it.

Because, when the track keeps 17-30% from the pools every race, not only are the bettors betting against the track too...but the track becomes the most formitable opponent around.

This is having "a good grasp of things"?


You could beat the other players by a wide margin and still lose.

[lamboguy]

i think the man has a good point. this game has been promoted as well as possible throught the last decade with TVG. they really have don a great job with the tools they have wheather you love them or hate them. yet we have seen handle decreases across the board. the only thing i have seen that has increased is churchil downs attendance on a friday evening. they have figured out how to attract good looking females that love their beer, and turned the place into a party atmosphere for 1 night every week on a friday. a few of those people go to the windows to bet the horses as well. i have noticed that on friday night it has been their worst cards of the 4 days that run.

but still an overhaul to the game is still imperetive for it to continue as a viable entity. this is a sport where they have worked overtime to scare the customers away from it. it would be like coca-cola using a marketing campaign to explain to people how bad the drink is and the awful things it does to ones body once you drink it.

[thespaah]

I can tell you that the customer service and management at Arlington compared to that of Churchill Downs is like night and day. AP has no handle on any customer wants or needs from the 1st time visitors all the way up to their top level Vips. Hawthorne has a better business model and customer service than AP does IMO. Churchill is the only out of state track that I can say anything about because I have been there many times and anyone who didn't know that Churchill was affliated with AP would be shocked to find out that they actually are after visiting both. Is Arlington a cleaner facility on the ground level yes, but as far as the staff go there is no comparison. In AP's gold room(vip)there is not one AP staff member in there to help any of the customer with anything. There is 1 waitress that is all. Go to Churchill's gold room and you have 3-4 full time staff in the room at all times to assist the customers. They even have computers for the vips to use. Heck my girlfriend always says that she wishes we could go to CD all the time instead of AP and we live 20 minutes from Arlington because of the way she sees people being treated. This is nobody but AP's fault and they will suffer the consequences of their poor management of the track. Slots will not save them.
poor customer sevice = no customers