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trotter2229
10-16-2010, 10:30 AM
Crusade:
• exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause
• be an advocate for;
• campaign: a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end

Crusade for our image as a sport…not just gambling

This has been a story that I have told many times in my crusade to better explain Harness Racing to new fans. But recently an incident occurred that brought that message to the forefront again for me.

Recently we had my in-laws over for the weekend and I suggested to my Father-in-law that we go to the track on Saturday night and I could introduce him to Harness Racing. My mother-in-law quickly said to him that to not bet more than $2.00 per race because she didn’t want him gambling his money away. At that point I went into my crusade pitch that Harness Racing is a sport just like hockey, baseball, football, basketball etc. Whatever is spent wagering on the races is just the cost of entertainment, and you might get a return on your wager or even make money.

I said to her “what if I had bought 2 tickets to the Hockey game that night and my father-in-law was paying for half the costs”. She said “that would be fantastic he loves his team.” I said to her “that is interesting to me because you are really concerned about him gambling and losing $20.00 to enjoy a night of racing but you are Ok with him spending over $100.00 to see a hockey team play and have no opportunity to win back the money.

With the thought of Harness Racing being a sport in her head and the wagering just the way you pay for your ticket to see the sport she took a completely different approach to a night at the races and my father-in-law was able to take $50.00 to the track…what a victory…

We have to ask ourselves why people are comfortable spending over $100.00 per person per game on sports and yet panic if they heard you spent the same wagering on harness racing.

Just to give a comparison I have included a chart below on average costs, you can certainly spend a lot more:

Sport Annual Season Ticket Cost Parking Per Season
Hockey $3,526 $800
Baseball $3,103 $1600
Basketball $4,050 $900
Golf Membership $2,000 to ??? Free
Harness Racing Free Free

Can you imagine the feelings of your family and friends if you told them that you spent over spent over $4,000 wagering on Harness Racing in the past year. They would all be holding an intervention for you to get over your gambling problem. You would have the Gamblers Anonymous phone number secretly placed in your birthday card…

The only difference is the perception of how the money is spent. At other sporting events it is considered the cost of entertainment where it is considered gambling with horse racing. I would rather take a chance with my money where I could get some of it back in wagering. We need to create a crusade to help the public understand that wagering is just a sport/entertainment investment like they make with any other sport but with racing there is a chance to get a return.

We must remove the perception of gambling and all the negative feelings and promote the fantastic sport with exceptional athletes both human and horse. As much as we all love slots for what they have contributed to our sport that is true gambling. Bet money with no skill, get no sports/entertainment, and have little chance to get a return.

I ask all Harness Racing crusaders reading this article to talk with their family and friends and explain this concept and as a crusader bring them to the track AND THEN SHOW THEM HOW TO BET ONLINE SO THEY CAN PLAY EVERYDAY.

trotter2229
10-16-2010, 10:44 AM
Drivers join the Crusade:

This blog is addressed to all the drivers in Harness Racing

You are the stars of Harness Racing and you need to act like it. The horses are no different from the race cars in NASCAR racing, although they provide the horse power, you are the difference between winning and losing in most cases.

As a Harness Racing driver you must be able to get the most out of an independent thinking animal, coax them to their best performance, weave them through tight openings, strategize in a split second what other drivers are going to do, (no time outs like football, basketball, hockey to figure out the strategy in the middle of the game) expose your bodies to unprotected danger (no roll cage and safety devices like cars have) and do all this while stressing out that you are the 4 to 5 favourite and if you lose race fans will be cursing you. I can’t think of another sport with so much pressure.

You are racing 8 to 10 times per night, you control everything that happens in the race, and you are the most physical and mentally adept athletes in any sport.

So now that we have established that you are the stars of the game you have become those stars to the fans of our sport and more importantly to the new fans of our sport.

ADD EXCITEMENT TO EVERY WIN AND ENGAGE THE PUBLIC!

You must become more like drivers in a comparable sport like NASCAR where they jump on top of their car when they win.

Hockey players celebrate every goal like it is the biggest thing that ever happened to them.
Even Golfers celebrate a great putt by pumping their fist and they are the most laid back people I have ever seen.

Football players are so animated that they have put rules in to stop the celebration.
BUT GUESS WHAT…FANS LOVE IT!

I have not seen every driver in North America but I can say is thank god for Rick Zeron. Unfortunately because he is the only one who does any signature move it does not get the fans attention like it should. However if you all adopted your own celebration it would become something all fans look forward and they will begin cheering for you like they do athletes in other sports.

Rick once gave his whip to my son and now he cheers Rick on like he did with Mats Sundin of the Leafs. We need to create stars that fans what to go to the races and cheer to victory like they do all the other teams in the city.
Fans love a winner and they want to see that you happy and they want to cheer your success. They love winners even more in our sport because they have usually cashed a ticket.

If you don’t feel you can get animated in front of the crowd go to the fans around the winners circle shake their hand or hi-five them and thank them for attending.

Fans come back if they feel appreciated and enjoy an experience with the stars of the track.

Here is an explanation about baby boomers from a marketing magazine:

Boomers crave experience because they won’t believe anything until they see it, touch it, and experience it for themselves. In the new consumer brandscape, it is no longer traditional media or top-down authority carrying the weight. In fact, the boomer’s scepticism of the advertising and marketing industry on the whole is at an all-time high. In a new upside-down influencer hierarchy, it is the boomers, themselves, who are calling for the information they are seeking and whom they will allow into their lives. Whenever you can, don’t just tell them. Have them live it for themselves. The realm of public relations, in cultivating word-of-mouth, editorial, event, and educational opportunities, is increasingly becoming more effective in cutting through the hype and giving them what they most crave: a direct, first-hand experience with your product or service. Sample the product, entertain while you educate, engage with them on-line, establish a living, breathing relationship with the boomer consumer, and you will have the experience you crave, as well; an enhanced bottom line.

In the same realm of making the experience memorable for our fans let’s discuss the dining room. Most new fans attend their first race in the dining room through some company or group event or with friends.

They would be truly engaged if you visited the dining room before the races dressed in racing uniform and thanked them for coming. I believe it would make their night much more exciting and they would cheer for and maybe even wager on you in a night that they are not sure they figure out how to pick a horse.

I know you are all free agents and you are not paid to visit and engage fans but you do make your living from a % of the purse and you have no job security. You need to make sure the future of the sport is secure and this is done by fans having an experience at the tracks.

BE THE STAR YOU COULD BE!

Crusade:

exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause
be an advocate for;
campaign: a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end
Until next time…join the crusade!

See you at the track

InsideThePylons-MW
10-16-2010, 12:32 PM
Have you heard of something called the Breeder's Crown?

They just held it and Canadians had no live feed of the races or the ability to wager on it.

Maybe you should direct your efforts toward the morons in charge of things like this because if you do get people to go to the track, you probably don't want them to be treated like shiit as then they will never come back.

wilderness
10-16-2010, 01:58 PM
Have you heard of something called the Breeder's Crown?

They just held it and Canadians had no live feed of the races or the ability to wager on it.

The likely reason for Canadians not having the ability to wager on the Breeders Crown at Pocono (first I've heard of it)?

Is the lack of a shared-wagering-pool contract with either Pennsylvania or Pocono.
It's the fault of one or the other (i. e., the Canadian hub or the PA hub) that the contract wasn't in place, previous to the Breeders Crown.

InsideThePylons-MW
10-16-2010, 06:06 PM
The likely reason for Canadians not having the ability to wager on the Breeders Crown at Pocono (first I've heard of it)?

Is the lack of a shared-wagering-pool contract with either Pennsylvania or Pocono.
It's the fault of one or the other (i. e., the Canadian hub or the PA hub) that the contract wasn't in place, previous to the Breeders Crown.

Uh...yeah......Do you think the TB people in charge (obviously now the 2nd dumbest humans on the planet) would not have a contract in place for Canadians to watch and wager on the Breeder's Cup?

Don't you think the Canadian tracks, Breeder's Crown, Pocono should have done whatever they could to get it simulcast?

Next year when Woodbine hosts the Breeder's Crown.....don't you think there would be outrage if Americans couldn't watch it nor bet on it anywhere in the U.S.?