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Originally Posted by Cuffdaddy
Just not buying you pointing to attendance to make a point that California racing is dead or close to death. You used the NFL and MLB numbers to bolster your point, why not include World Cup Soccer attendance numbers as well.
Wagering dollars are huge, attendance will not be the reason or barometer for the demise of racing in So Cal.
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Del Mar is specifically an attendance driven track. Why race at Del Mar rather than, say, holding the races in a low population, low rent area? The answer is because Del Mar is a facility designed to draw live attendance. It's a vacation track, like Oaklawn, Monmouth, or especially Saratoga (the track that it gets compared to most).
And drawing live attendance to facilities like Del Mar is important because these tend to be new fans. Del Mar crowds always were skewed towards the young. Lots of young women having a good time drinking margaritas and wearing summer dresses.
If Del Mar is unable to draw live attendance anymore, that is extremely bad for the future of California racing because it means that we are unable to attract people to come to the races anymore, even at what may be the most beautiful racetrack in America.