Free admission sparks 50% increase in opening day handle! - Horse Racing Forum - PaceAdvantage.Com

andymays · 06-19-2011, 11:16 AM

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.d...ORTS/106180329

Excerpt:

Director of racing Larry Swartzlander said the handle for opening day at the track exceeded $1.3 million Thursday,
up 50 percent from $854,000 on the first day of racing in 2010. He estimated an increase of approximately 30 percent for the second day of racing Friday.

PhantomOnTour · 06-19-2011, 11:29 AM

What track?

andymays · 06-19-2011, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhantomOnTour

What track?

Stockton. You gotta read the article.

PhantomOnTour · 06-19-2011, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andymays

Stockton. You gotta read the article.

No thanks...just name the track and then i will decide if i want to read an article about that track.

andymays · 06-19-2011, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhantomOnTour

No thanks...just name the track and then i will decide if i want to read an article about that track.

Whatever.

toussaud · 06-19-2011, 11:40 AM

interesting article, thanks for posting.

when you start talking about families and stuff like that, you can see how it makes a difference. when we normally talk about ticket prices we usually talk in terms if like, my personal bottom line (expenses) or maybe taking 1 person at most. It's a whole different ball game when you have 3 kids and you want to take the kids and the wife out to do something. paying 50 dollars just to freaking get in, before you watch a race, before you buy anything, man that's just hard. that's movie prices.

and some of you will say "well it's still cheaper than going to the movies" but the point you are missing is, that the movies have the built in advantage, of kids actually wanting to go there in the first place. If I am a regular guy who is just looking to do something for the day and the kids want to go see the new jim carry movie, would i rather pay 60-70 with food included to tot he movies or pay 50 to go do something the kids might not want to do. not really that hard of a choice, and it's not like this is the breeders cup or anything. but paying 0 to take 5 people to the track, now we are talking

Light · 06-19-2011, 11:40 AM

Recently GG hiked their admission fee to $6. Form is $7 and Parking is $4. When asked why the admission was raised, answer was "we are having a hard time economically". Ummm, that should mean lower fees Einstein. Yeah, they really come in droves when you charge more.

GG is a ghost town except for Sundays when they have $1 admission, parking, hot dogs (bad for you) and beer.You also see more young people. I'm sure this temporary change is because the GG strategy has backfired.

andymays · 06-19-2011, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Light

Recently GG hiked their admission fee to $6. Form is $7 and Parking is $4. When asked why the admission was raised, answer was "we are having a hard time economically". Ummm, that should mean lower fees Einstein. Yeah, they really come in droves when you charge more.

GG is a ghost town except for Sundays when they have $1 admission, parking, hot dogs (bad for you) and beer.You also see more young people. I'm sure this temporary change is because the GG strategy has backfired.

The people running things have everything Ass-Backwards.

toussaud · 06-19-2011, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Light

Recently GG hiked their admission fee to $6. Form is $7 and Parking is $4. When asked why the admission was raised, answer was "we are having a hard time economically". Ummm, that should mean lower fees Einstein. Yeah, they really come in droves when you charge more.

GG is a ghost town except for Sundays when they have $1 admission, parking, hot dogs (bad for you) and beer.You also see more young people. I'm sure this temporary change is because the GG strategy has backfired.

you know what you should say in response?

"if you are having a hard time financially, what makes you think I'm not, and what makes you think I am going to pay more to be entertained then when times weren't' as hard"

Canarsie · 06-19-2011, 11:59 AM

Last week my friend called me and said lets go for the last 3 races at Monmouth. They still were charging for parking and admission. One would think that they would want people to just stroll in and wager and maybe decide to come back.

You wonder why the game is dying with people running the show who don't have a clue.

andymays · 06-19-2011, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canarsie

Last week my friend called me and said lets go for the last 3 races at Monmouth. They still were charging for parking and admission. One would think that they would want people to just stroll in and wager and maybe decide to come back.

You wonder why the game is dying with people running the show who don't have a clue.

Penny wise and dollar poor. That's just stupidity.

toussaud · 06-19-2011, 12:06 PM

the bigger question to me and the one that always goes unnoticed is why do we pay for parking?

I go to about all in all, between 15-20 razorback football/basketball games a year, i can count on one hand how many times i have paid for parking and that was just because it was cold outside and i did not want to walk that far.

Go to a high school football game you don't pay for parking (at least we don't)

If you can get a parking spot in the fair's own parking facility you don't have to pay for parking (But usually you can't, you have to park in someone's yard and they will charge you)

but at oaklawn, you can't park anywhere basically without someone charging you to park there to get to oaklawn.

I get the people charging to park in their yards and stuff, I would too. But it's illegal to park on the street, basically making you pay someone to park. Either oaklawn or the people's yard you are parking in. I don't see why you can't just park a few blocks away on the street and get out and go to the track like you do for a football game or such And oaklawn just pillages people to park in their parking deck.

jelly · 06-19-2011, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andymays

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.d...ORTS/106180329

Excerpt:

Director of racing Larry Swartzlander said the handle for opening day at the track exceeded $1.3 million Thursday,
up 50 percent from $854,000 on the first day of racing in 2010. He estimated an increase of approximately 30 percent for the second day of racing Friday.

This is shocking,I never would have guessed.

fmolf · 06-19-2011, 12:50 PM

everybody knocks the nyra...Aqueduct free parking and admission....belmont free parking..$2 admission...It costs nothing to go to a casino and you even drink for free!Maybe they will figure it out when this management group retires and the young guns take over.Those not tainted by yesteryears backwards thinking and practices.

hugh · 06-19-2011, 01:34 PM

I have an idea for GG... Dollar day EVERY DAY!!!
God I'd love that.
Stockton has been good to me so far. The fairs seem to be a little softer these dayd. Good news about the handle increase.

Now if Stockton would get rid of the "Mule Futurity" and the Arabian races and concentrate on real horse racing the place would just blow up.