Tampa Lowers Take - Again

[DeanT]

Since 2001 Tampa has been lowering takeout. They have yet again. Last year's handle per day broke an all time record of $4.2M per day. In 2001 handle per day was under $2.0m. In 2001 they had one of the worst takeout rates in North America. In 2010, with CA tracks raising theirs, Tampa has vaulted to one of the top four takes in NA for players.

What recession?

TAMPA BAY DOWNS WELCOMES ITS 85TH SEASON

12/3/2010

OLDSMAR, Fla. (December 3, 2010) Tampa Bay Downs is pleased to welcome fans and horsemen back for another great year of racing excitement at the Oldsmar oval on December 11’s Opening Day with reduced takeouts and two upgraded stakes races.

The 2010-2011 race meeting will see a decrease in takeout for Pick 3, Pick 4, Super Hi-5 and Pick Six wagering to 18% from last year’s 19% rate. The decrease in takeout has been an ongoing trend at Tampa Bay Downs for the past several years as the Oldsmar oval continues to reward the players that that support the Tampa Bay Downs product. Also new this year is a 50 cent Pick Three wager, which along with 50 cent Pick Fours, 50 cent Trifectas, and 10 cent Superfectas make Tampa Bay Downs a favorite handicapping destination for horseplayers. Tampa Bay Downs will build upon large field sizes, with goals to increase upon last season’s average field size of 8.95 horses per race, once again enhancing the horseplayers’ experience.





more here... http://www.tampabaydowns.com/Racing/...sReleaseId=471

[CincyHorseplayer]

Tampa is always catering to the horseplayer.What a concept!!Those centimeters and inches add up over time.They get my business.

[Stillriledup]

Kudos to Tampa for actually giving a hoot.

I'll never understand why tracks lower minimums to 50 cents and 1 dollar, but that's a diff discussion for a different day.

[jelly]

Not a big fan of the 50c pk3 and pk4,go back to a $1

but i love the reduced takeout.Tampa will see a lot more of my money.

[InsideThePylons-MW]

These guys are sharp.

25.9% on tris and supers......17.5% on WPS

Larcenous rates and above industry avg on just under 2/3 of their handle so they lower their small handle wagers 1%.

I know lowering takeout is great, and I should be exuberating with enthusiasm, but this almost seems like they are laughing their asses off at horseplayers being morons.

Doesn't anybody think that if they were even remotely serious about takeout reduction that they would immediately lower the 25.9% to 24.9% instead of their selected reductions appearing as some kind of horseplayer appeasement scam?

[cj's dad]

Rich Bauer would be happy !! RIP friend.

[BillW]

Originally Posted by cj's dad

Rich Bauer would be happy !! RIP friend.

Yep, his favorite track in the last few years! I'll always regret not taking the opportunity to meet him there for a week of handicapping.

[The_Knight_Sky]

Originally Posted by InsideThePylons-MW

These guys are sharp.

25.9% on tris and supers......17.5% on WPS

Larcenous rates and above industry avg on just under 2/3
of their handle so they lower their small handle wagers 1%.

Seems to be par for the course.
Tracks taking larger bite out of the bigger piece of the pie.

I still look forward to a racetrack that makes a commitment for the long term
with across the board reductions.

Every year Tampa gets "good publicity" when they feed the public
morsels of reductions. However Tampa could be a major player if they
tended to the vertical players by reducing the exactas and trifectas further.

[point given]

Originally Posted by Stillriledup

Kudos to Tampa for actually giving a hoot.

cents and 1 dolI'll never understand why tracks lower minimums to 50 lar, but that's a diff discussion for a different day.

just hit the repeat button and you've got your $1 minimum, its good for churn keeping more people live longer, seemed to work fine for keeneland and CD. I for one welcome it and will play it there more often now as lower level claimers arenot my specialty

[BillW]

Originally Posted by The_Knight_Sky

Seems to be par for the course.
Tracks taking larger bite out of the bigger piece of the pie.

I still look forward to a racetrack that makes a commitment for the long term
with across the board reductions.

Every year Tampa gets "good publicity" when they feed the public
morsels of reductions. However Tampa could be a major player if they
tended to the vertical players by reducing the exactas and trifectas further.

Unfortunately the economics of the situation is that a track that drastically drops take across the board will just give away a lot of the benefit to other tracks in the short term (churn will be diluted). This slow steady drop in take is the proper approach for the industry for long term health (look at the handle growth of Tampa Bay over the last decade as proof). For those criticising TAM for their high multiple takeout, would you rather them being caught up in the spiral of losing handle and raising their take as is happening on Calif.?

[W2G]

Originally Posted by InsideThePylons-MW

These guys are sharp.

25.9% on tris and supers......17.5% on WPS

Larcenous rates and above industry avg on just under 2/3 of their handle so they lower their small handle wagers 1%.

I know lowering takeout is great, and I should be exuberating with enthusiasm, but this almost seems like they are laughing their asses off at horseplayers being morons.

Doesn't anybody think that if they were even remotely serious about takeout reduction that they would immediately lower the 25.9% to 24.9% instead of their selected reductions appearing as some kind of horseplayer appeasement scam?

This is what I don't understand. Looking at Cali and Tampa takeout side-by-side, including the respective increase and decrease, it is not at all clear which one is offering the more attractive product based on takeout alone depending on which pools one tends to favor.

And yet Cali is vilified and threatened with a boycott while Tampa is celebrated and players are encouraged to support them. I don't get the polar opposite reactions.

[Charli125]

Originally Posted by W2G

This is what I don't understand. Looking at Cali and Tampa takeout side-by-side, including the respective increase and decrease, it is not at all clear which one is offering the more attractive product based on takeout alone depending on which pools one tends to favor.

And yet Cali is vilified and threatened with a boycott while Tampa is celebrated and players are encouraged to support them. I don't get the polar opposite reactions.

There is one big difference between the two situations. CA is raising takeout, Tampa is lowering takeout. They're going in opposite directions.

[BillW]

Originally Posted by W2G

This is what I don't understand. Looking at Cali and Tampa takeout side-by-side, including the respective increase and decrease, it is not at all clear which one is offering the more attractive product based on takeout alone depending on which pools one tends to favor.

And yet Cali is vilified and threatened with a boycott while Tampa is celebrated and players are encouraged to support them. I don't get the polar opposite reactions.

It's not about villifying California. By raising take they are shooting themselves in the foot by driving down handle. This is not in their best long term interest (nor the horseplayers that partake of their product).

This is an odd situation. In most consumer/business relationships if the business screws up, the customer just moves on the the next guy offering the better product. In this case due to the somewhat monopolistic nature of horseracing, the consumer needs to point out where the business is screwing up or otherwise lose access to that business.

[andymays]

California could have led the way by holding firm on their takeout. With Santa Anita going back to dirt and some major outfits sending horses out, they were set to succeed. The takeout raise couldn't have come at a worse time. That's what happens when you have incompetent and corrupt leadership.

[DeanT]

Originally Posted by W2G

This is what I don't understand. Looking at Cali and Tampa takeout side-by-side, including the respective increase and decrease, it is not at all clear which one is offering the more attractive product based on takeout alone depending on which pools one tends to favor.

And yet Cali is vilified and threatened with a boycott while Tampa is celebrated and players are encouraged to support them. I don't get the polar opposite reactions.

I believe they were 27% exotics and 20% WPS nine years ago. Now they are much lower.

I guess the question horseplayers should ask: Should you support a track that in ten years will probably have 15% ATB take because they are moving in the right direction, or one that in ten years will probably have 25% across the board take?

Tampa has lowered take four or five times in nine years. CA has raised it two times during the same period.