Meadowlands Racetrack, 1976-????

[Canarsie]

Could it be the end of an era?

http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/meadowlandsmatters/comments/meadowlands_racetrack_1976/

[macguy]

Hard to believe that track was pretty much the creme of the crop of harness racing less than a decade ago.

[Zman179]

Slots killed the Meadowlands.

Harness racing is in deep trouble. They're about to lose their flagship track and the two tracks which would take over (Chester and Yonkers) are two tracks where maybe 150 people are watching the races live; 95% of the people there play slots and only slots.

[Tom]

I used to love the night T-bred racing, but they haven't offered a card there worth looking at for years.

The harness was very good, though. Seems like a stupid idea to vote NO when it means the end. Must be unemployment is an option.:rolleyes:

[Stillriledup]

Slots killed the Meadowlands.

Harness racing is in deep trouble. They're about to lose their flagship track and the two tracks which would take over (Chester and Yonkers) are two tracks where maybe 150 people are watching the races live; 95% of the people there play slots and only slots.

Politicians killed the M.

They know that all they would need to do is give M slots and not only would that save many jobs, it would save horse racing in the state and create untold millions for revenue.

Instead, they go with who pays them off under the table. As a society, we want our politicans to do what's best for the citizens as a whole, not for one special interest group who lines that guy's pocket.

[Hanover1]

Politicians cannot fill the grandstands. Harness is dying the slowest, yet inevitable death, we may ever see. We had to shake hands with the devil to survive, and now pay the price.....

[Zman179]

Politicians cannot fill the grandstands. Harness is dying the slowest, yet inevitable death, we may ever see. We had to shake hands with the devil to survive, and now pay the price.....

Harness racing will not die, but it is rapidly reaching an apathetic state. The way it's going, in five years, other than for the Delaware County Fair, very few people will know that harness racing even exists.

[usedtolovetvg]

handicapping, both the t-breds & jugheads demands a certain intelligence and patience that is lost on the new generation of gambler. it's all they can do to figure out how to make those darn slot wheels spin. i'm afraid our time has come and gone. i must say, though,that i had one helluva good run and don't regret one single minute.

[Robert Goren]

The politicians didn't kill it although they certainly didn't help it either. It was killed by the betters who decided no longer to bet there. When are track owners and horsemen ever going to figure out you can't run a race track without gamblers? Meadowland has been dead for years now. Anybody who looked at their handle knew that. It is time to bury it unless someone can come up an idea to get people to bet more on their product. I think they need to triple their handle without laying out any more money for expenses(including purses). Cutting the wages of a few cashiers is merely a drop in a very large bucket of losses. It is not going to make that place profitable.

[Stillriledup]

The politicians didn't kill it although they certainly didn't help it either. It was killed by the betters who decided no longer to bet there. When are track owners and horsemen ever going to figure out you can't run a race track without gamblers? Meadowland has been dead for years now. Anybody who looked at their handle knew that. It is time to bury it unless someone can come up an idea to get people to bet more on their product. I think they need to triple their handle without laying out any more money for expenses(including purses). Cutting the wages of a few cashiers is merely a drop in a very large bucket of losses. It is not going to make that place profitable.

They have an idea, get slots.

[Robert Goren]

Slots killed the Meadowlands.

Harness racing is in deep trouble. They're about to lose their flagship track and the two tracks which would take over (Chester and Yonkers) are two tracks where maybe 150 people are watching the races live; 95% of the people there play slots and only slots.Why is that? Could it be the betting on the races is such a bad deal that most people think they have better shot of having a winning night playing the one armed bandits(and they are right). Race tracks need to look at their product and figure out away that will make it more enticing. The gamblers are say the racing product stinks now days.

[Robert Goren]

They have an idea, get slots. If they have slots, why do they need the races?

[MickJ26]

Slots killed the Meadowlands.

Harness racing is in deep trouble. They're about to lose their flagship track and the two tracks which would take over (Chester and Yonkers) are two tracks where maybe 150 people are watching the races live; 95% of the people there play slots and only slots.

The irony is pre-Meadowlands, Roosevelt/Yonkers was the center of the harness racing world. The Meadowlands, along with the OTB's helped end that. Thanks to slots, Yonkers was able to get revenge, as it were.

[Kelso]

all they would need to do is give M slots and not only would that save many jobs, it would save horse racing in the state and create untold millions for revenue.The state can put slot machines anywhere it pleases, presuming the state's voters decide to allow them beyond Atlantic City. It does not need racing to do so.

Then the state can put ALL of those "untold millions" in revenue directly into the state treasury, from which it can be applied to the benefit ALL of the state's taxpayers ... not just a very small, very selfish, very short-sighted special interest group. That's exactly as it should be.

[Stillriledup]

If they have slots, why do they need the races?

Because harness racing was around way before slots were even invented. It just levels the playing field for other harness tracks who have slots. Nobody needs races, but these particular races would be able to stand on their own two feet if it werent for other tracks having slots. Nobody with slots needs races, but because they have them, other tracks need them to compete.

[Stillriledup]

The irony is pre-Meadowlands, Roosevelt/Yonkers was the center of the harness racing world. The Meadowlands, along with the OTB's helped end that. Thanks to slots, Yonkers was able to get revenge, as it were.

What killed Roos/Yr is the M offering a better product for fans to wager on, what killed M is totally different. M is still a better product even without slots, M still gets 100k in their weekend pick 4s (well, used to) and nobody bets YR even with the much improved horseflesh.

The use of Slots money to Yonkers horsemen is a huge waste as the betting pools are still tiny. Now,if you took all the slots money and gave it to the bettors via carryovers, the betting pools would be much bigger even if the horses were horrible and running for 3,000 purses.

[Robert Goren]

Because harness racing was around way before slots were even invented. It just levels the playing field for other harness tracks who have slots. Nobody needs races, but these particular races would be able to stand on their own two feet if it werent for other tracks having slots. Nobody with slots needs races, but because they have them, other tracks need them to compete. Look at the handle at tracks with slots and then tell me how they would be able to stand on their two feet if none of them had slots. Total handle has been going down for years. When adjusted for inflation, the numbers really get worse. Slots are a way around having to go out and get people to bet on their product. It is really is that simple. When race tracks stopped marketing their product to gamblers and instead marketed it to horsemen, the sport fell apart. The sport does not need more horses, It needs more gamblers. Get more gamblers and everything else will fall in line.

[Robert Goren]

What killed Roos/Yr is the M offering a better product for fans to wager on, what killed M is totally different. M is still a better product even without slots, M still gets 100k in their weekend pick 4s (well, used to) and nobody bets YR even with the much improved horseflesh.

The use of Slots money to Yonkers horsemen is a huge waste as the betting pools are still tiny. Now,if you took all the slots money and gave it to the bettors via carryovers, the betting pools would be much bigger even if the horses were horrible and running for 3,000 purses.Lot of gamblers never bet carryover pools. Carryover pools when taken as a % of total handle is still very small. Take a look at Exacta pools some day even when there is huge carry over. It is rare occasion that the total Exacta pools on the pick 5 or pick 6 races isn't larger. On days without a carryover, those pools don't even match the show pool on one race. Exacta, tris and win pools are where the money is being bet race in and race out. Supra pools are beginning to join them at some tracks. That is where tracks need to look for increases in handle.

[sonnyp]

this is an email i got from a friend who is a nj horseman currently racing standardbreds :


I talked to a lot of my teller friend's who have been there for 20 plus years and they are not going to vote for what Gural has proposed, he wants them
to take a 20% pay cut, reduce vacation days, and pay a portion of the health
care plan. Here is what a full time teller is getting, first of all, you must work
220 shifts per year to qualify, each shift is 5 and half hours long with 2 breaks
of 15 minutes, so you acually work 5 hours, some do 2 shifts a day, with that
you get 28 vacation days, 7 sick days and 5 personal days, you also have to pay
14 per week as your part of health insurance. I did not make a mistake, thats what
they get right now, NICE BEING IN A UNION, isnt it....The pay scale is about 120-
140 per shift, under the Gural plan they will make below 100 a shift, 2weeks vacation
and 5 sick days, no personal days, and now pay about 100 per month for health care
instead of 56 per month, hope that shed's some light on what will be voted on this
week........

[Track Collector]

this is an email i got from a friend who is a nj horseman currently racing standardbreds :


I talked to a lot of my teller friend's who have been there for 20 plus years and they are not going to vote for what Gural has proposed, he wants them
to take a 20% pay cut, reduce vacation days, and pay a portion of the health
care plan. Here is what a full time teller is getting, first of all, you must work
220 shifts per year to qualify, each shift is 5 and half hours long with 2 breaks
of 15 minutes, so you acually work 5 hours, some do 2 shifts a day, with that
you get 28 vacation days, 7 sick days and 5 personal days, you also have to pay
14 per week as your part of health insurance. I did not make a mistake, thats what
they get right now, NICE BEING IN A UNION, isnt it....The pay scale is about 120-
140 per shift, under the Gural plan they will make below 100 a shift, 2weeks vacation
and 5 sick days, no personal days, and now pay about 100 per month for health care
instead of 56 per month, hope that shed's some light on what will be voted on this
week........


The current and proposed packages sure sound pretty good for a work position whose skill set can be filled by many in the general public. Me thinks someone does not know how good they have it and are about to push it and find themselves unemployed. Too bad since Gural may be the only option available to keep the Meadowlands up and running.

[The Hawk]

this is an email i got from a friend who is a nj horseman currently racing standardbreds :


I talked to a lot of my teller friend's who have been there for 20 plus years and they are not going to vote for what Gural has proposed, he wants them
to take a 20% pay cut, reduce vacation days, and pay a portion of the health
care plan. Here is what a full time teller is getting, first of all, you must work
220 shifts per year to qualify, each shift is 5 and half hours long with 2 breaks
of 15 minutes, so you acually work 5 hours, some do 2 shifts a day, with that
you get 28 vacation days, 7 sick days and 5 personal days, you also have to pay
14 per week as your part of health insurance. I did not make a mistake, thats what
they get right now, NICE BEING IN A UNION, isnt it....The pay scale is about 120-
140 per shift, under the Gural plan they will make below 100 a shift, 2weeks vacation
and 5 sick days, no personal days, and now pay about 100 per month for health care
instead of 56 per month, hope that shed's some light on what will be voted on this
week........


Could they be that stupid, to vote against it? Do they think Gural is bluffing when he says he'll walk away if the unions don't make a deal? I don't, maybe I'm wrong. But if he walks away the Meadowlands is finished, and nobody has a job.

Wasn't there some request for workforce reductions as well?

[Stillriledup]

this is an email i got from a friend who is a nj horseman currently racing standardbreds :


I talked to a lot of my teller friend's who have been there for 20 plus years and they are not going to vote for what Gural has proposed, he wants them
to take a 20% pay cut, reduce vacation days, and pay a portion of the health
care plan. Here is what a full time teller is getting, first of all, you must work
220 shifts per year to qualify, each shift is 5 and half hours long with 2 breaks
of 15 minutes, so you acually work 5 hours, some do 2 shifts a day, with that
you get 28 vacation days, 7 sick days and 5 personal days, you also have to pay
14 per week as your part of health insurance. I did not make a mistake, thats what
they get right now, NICE BEING IN A UNION, isnt it....The pay scale is about 120-
140 per shift, under the Gural plan they will make below 100 a shift, 2weeks vacation
and 5 sick days, no personal days, and now pay about 100 per month for health care
instead of 56 per month, hope that shed's some light on what will be voted on this
week........


Tellers are a dying breed, most people are learning how to use SAM machines. These guys need to watch the movie Wall Street where the employees at Bluestar Airlines made huge conessions to save the airline.

[thespaah]

this is an email i got from a friend who is a nj horseman currently racing standardbreds :


I talked to a lot of my teller friend's who have been there for 20 plus years and they are not going to vote for what Gural has proposed, he wants them
to take a 20% pay cut, reduce vacation days, and pay a portion of the health
care plan. Here is what a full time teller is getting, first of all, you must work
220 shifts per year to qualify, each shift is 5 and half hours long with 2 breaks
of 15 minutes, so you acually work 5 hours, some do 2 shifts a day, with that
you get 28 vacation days, 7 sick days and 5 personal days, you also have to pay
14 per week as your part of health insurance. I did not make a mistake, thats what
they get right now, NICE BEING IN A UNION, isnt it....The pay scale is about 120-
140 per shift, under the Gural plan they will make below 100 a shift, 2weeks vacation
and 5 sick days, no personal days, and now pay about 100 per month for health care
instead of 56 per month, hope that shed's some light on what will be voted on this
week........
Mutuel clerks are not skilled labor and should be compensated as unskilled. $140 per 5 hour shift?....That's $28 per hour not including benefits! Way too much money. I bet skilled craftsmen don't get $28 per hour.
The bottom line is this....Labor should cost a maximum of 30% of total gross revenue. That may very well be where the new vendor got the new pay scale from. Makes total sense.
The tellers have a choice. They can take the pay reduction or they can go look for work elsewhere.

[badcompany]

Could they be that stupid, to vote against it? Do they think Gural is bluffing when he says he'll walk away if the unions don't make a deal? I don't, maybe I'm wrong. But if he walks away the Meadowlands is finished, and nobody has a job.

Wasn't there some request for workforce reductions as well?

I get the feeling that the tellers don't believe this is real and that something will eventually be worked out. Perhaps they should have a talk with the former NYCOTB clerks.

[affirmedny]

somebody must have given in see attached ad from njbets