Quote:
Originally Posted by thaskalos
IMO, a big part of the problem is the fact that the racetrack owners refuse to acknowledge that they are in the "gambling" business. You see it all the time, even now...some high-ranking racetrack official publicly declaring that "we are in the entertainment business". The truth is that we ain't in the 60s and 70s anymore...there are now WAY better forms of entertainment out there than what the racetrack can provide. I got to know a manager at Arlington Park many years ago, and he too told me that they were in the "entertainment business". I took him outside by the door of the place as the people were filing out after the day's racing...and I asked him to tell me if his customers looked "entertained" as they were heading to their cars. He wasn't too friendly with me after that, as I recall.
The stigma that was once associated with gambling isn't there anymore, gambling has now become socially accepted. The casinos embrace the fact that they are in the gambling business...and they are doing very well. Only when the racetrack owners realize that they are in the gambling business too will they take serious steps to make this game a more affordable game to play. As long as they treat this game as "entertainment", the serious players will stay away...and the game's decline will continue.
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Maybe things will change, I agree they need to fully embrace the gambling aspect of it. Over the years they seem to be all about trying to lure in the art gallery and philharmonic crowd, must be the bloodstock industry mindset, they want people who might bring a picnic basket and barely gamble. Start going after the people with $300 on an NFL game who've already proven to be active gamblers. They're now sitting in every other living room on every other street. They're everywhere. Even a slice of that action will seriously add up.
