Adjusted for inflation, total wagering is down nearly 50% in the last 20 years.
 

Shills gonna keep on shilling though

He makes some very good points, many of which have been made on this board for a while now. You are killing off the customer base to artificially prop up the numbers. The bottom will fall out eventually.

racing handle is way down more than 50%, unaccounted for were the days when the handle that didn't go into the mutual pools were more than twice as much in total than the money that into the windows.

A well-written, sobering article. And after reading it, things like adding a synthetic surface to Belmont park is akin to putting lipstick on a pig.

Reminds me of the scene from Margin Call, the music is about to stop and its just extracting as much money as possible trying to keep your ship afloat.

This was predictable.

What happens when the game is nothing but CRW Teams playing against each other

It's well written however it only restates the problems. We need articles that propose usable solutions. I'd like to see that someone in the industry wants to address pace of play. Every other form of entertainment is or has addressed it. When an industry or a company is contracting, literally everything is on the table. Nothing is too radical to at least discuss.

They refuse to do the only thing that could work. It must be sold as a gambling game of skill. Racing needs a huge marketing plan along those lines. Takeout has to be adjusted and all breakage paid to the penny. But, they keep doubling down on "silly sauce" marketing.

Lowering the takeout will require the kind of long term thinking and risk taking that may be outside the range of some decision makers and the politics of the industry. I say that because it might initially increase handle but lower the bottom line. It will take time to attract enough new players with marketing to start moving it in a positive direction, assuming it even works.

One good point he made was that owners often start off as betters. Casino money is being used heavily for purses and not to lower take. It probably should be shifted a bit, but I think it leaves off the fact that even with the higher purses, a lot of small owners are still losing money. That tells you how bad the core economics of the sport are. Even with casino money the costs of ownership, training, vet care etc… are often too high to give the smaller owners a shot operating sustainably.

it begs the question, "are the people that make the major decisions in the horse racing industry, business people, or just people hired because of who they know"?

Is it because the $5 better is still making $5 win bets instead of $20 win bets to keep up with inflation?

Or the lower minimum exotics.

Remember when California had $5 minimum exactas and dollar minimum supers?

Could these have an effect on betting no keeping up with inflation?

Or maybe they know exactly what they're doing. Perhaps the casino industry is exerting influence to destroy racing because it's a competing form of gambling that requires a higher operating budget to run than a slots floor?

I've bet more in one week then I typcially wager over the course of the entire year these days. Don't get me wrong... I still love horse racing. (the people, the animals, the history)

What I don't love is the current betting environment. I'm simply not going to feel bad when tracks go bankrupt. You reap what you sow

What am I doing this weekend? Not spending it watching Gulfstream Park.

This.

Twenty years ago I was betting 6,000-7000 races a year. This year I will probably not make 1000. It is really not worth the time waiting for an overlay to come along in these 6 and 7 horse fields.

If 40% of the money is bet by people who are winning (or they would be gone) the other 60% of us are paying a rake that is over 33%. That is simple math. No wonder the overlays are scarce.