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All of the indicators say the interest in US horse racing is declining. There are a lot of reasons for it. Some of it is just a change in society, different interests, different options. Other is due to self-inflicted wounds.
What indicator could you point to that shows horse racing interest has increased? Betting? No, because A) the number has declined by nearly 26% from a peak in the early 2000's and B) the number has probably decreased a hell of a lot more if it weren't for computer batch betting.
How about the major decline in horse population?
How about media? In the 1960's, 1970's, horse racing results were on the front of the sports section with a recap of big races. Now you're lucky if newspapers even report static results on page 32. ESPN ranks sports on their website by popularity. The first link option is the NFL, then NBA, then MLB and so on. Horse racing finds itself behind College Softball and in the vicinity of Special Olympics. Let that sink in for a moment.
I do not think it is even debatable that horse racing interest has been in steep decline. I'm not sure if anything can be done about it and certainly not with the industry leadership in place now. I don't believe leadership has any interest or motivation, or even a forum, to make decisions for the betterment of the sport as a whole. All current decisions are about self-preservation. Allowing cheating trainers with large stables to consistently make a mockery of the results of races at major race tracks all because they help "fill" races is an awful ecosystem.
This might be a biased stance but it bothers me a great deal that no one in the industry has ever contacted me (or know I even exist) about improvement ideas despite the fact that I have followed the sport religiously for over 30 years. I've handicapped, watched, bet on, discussed and written about more horse racing than 99.9% of the public but I have no outlet to contribute to ideas that might invigorate the sport.
I do not think a rise in popularity can occur for horse racing until the game is blown up at the root level. Lack of a unifying body is insurmountable.
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