Sunday, September 26, 2010
Further Evidence We Need Gambling People in Power
CHRB Vice-Chair Steve Israel:
"Vice Chairman Israel said regarding the takeout increase and the issue of price, “People often say we are competing with the casinos. I think that’s shortsighted and wrong. We’re not competing with casinos. We’re in the entertainment business. We’re competing with the Dodgers and the Giants and the Angels and the Lakers and we’re putting on a show. There are some expenses incurred by putting on a show. We need to do a better job of selling the concept that going to the racetrack and experiencing racing has real entertainment value – that it’s something people should be willing to pay for."
Meanwhile - back in reality:
Pew Research did a survey on the popularity of "sports" and what "fans" like.
Football: 34%
Basketball: 14%
Baseball: 13%
Horse Racing (not enough responses to make a list):
0.13%
It was beaten by Rodeo/Bull Riding.
Until this industry finds a way to fund purses from sales of TV deals, Zenyatta T-shirts or Todd Pletcher jerseys, we need to cultivate gambling.
Why? Because bettors pay all the bills for purses.
As Gibson Carothers said in his Eclipse Award considered piece wrote:
“It’s amazing how many advertisers confuse their real market with the market they would like to have. In all my years in advertising, I can’t recall a client [racing] who was so conflicted about its own product.”
This is alive and well in the California, Mr. Carothers.
Posted by HANA at
3:20 PM
