Young Folks At The Track

[cosmo96]

I live in southwestern Ohio. I have to disagree with what a lot of people say about younger people not supporting horseracing. I mostly go to Belterra in Cincinnati. I also spend a lot of time at Keenland, Churchill and Turfway during their meets. I do my off track betting at Miami Valley Gaming. I don't know how much they are wagering, but there are a lot of young people at these facilities. All players start slow, and some become serious players. Most of them are knowlegible they just have to develop. Keenland and Churchill are in college towns, so there are many U of L and UK students in attendance. There is also a lot of interest in harness racing. From what I see in southern Ohio and Kentucky, young people are very supportive of horseracing.

[Dave Schwartz]

Wow!

That's awesome!

What do you suppose makes the experience there so different from other tracks?

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by Dave Schwartz

Wow!

That's awesome!

What do you suppose makes the experience there so different from other tracks?

They don’t have as much to do........it’s a great place to live, raise kids etc

The word Bucolic comes to mind.

[Afleet]

I was at PRM and it looked like a wake but this was before 11am; younger people came in later

[cosmo96]

I know my area best. But, I have been to most of the tracks in the easteren United States. When I go to the track, I really don't look at the demographics. I go there to win and make money. I probably would not mention who goes to the track except there is so much gloom and doom. Like all sports there are issues, I try to stay positive. I think the gloom and doom hurts our wonderful past time. Horseracing will always be big in the United States. There are those who are small betters. They go mostly for the fun of it. There are those that like the atmosphere. You don't even have to wager to enjoy Keenland. It's like going back in time. Then there are serious betters like me that want to make money. For whatever reason all kinds of people enjoy horseracing. It is here to stay.

[46zilzal]

Young people attend but do not put much through the parimutuels.

[Flashbackdiner]

When you refer to young people what age bracket are you talking? Most guys who go out to the track and visit Otb’s are mostly 60-80 years old. So are you referring to the 30 and 40 somethings? This would be considered a younger person in comparison but definitely not a new fan base. I assure you it is very rare to see a 20-30 year old at any OTB in the country. Maybe a few now and then at a track running live but only attend a few times a year. I’m willing to bet that for every 100 horse racing fans that die off only 1 is replaced by a new fan. It’s very possible that my figure is conservative.

[burnsy]

Saratoga is the same way. Many young people but it’s a vacation , boutique meet. Horse racing is just part of the activities during that time up here. The problem is that less and less of these people become avid fans. You can’t point at the few exceptional days a year and say everything is great. With the amount of racing that is offered there are many days that other tracks and simulcasts are ghost towns. The few that are around make it look like an assisted living facility . My take is it isn’t dying but it’s limping along in stagnation. The demand does not meet the supply. Horse racing has lost stature, any one that says different is lying to themselves.

Besides the obvious business problems that come with this there are other repercussions. Being a weak link in the jungle of the gaming business leaves racing open to attack. Especially, since horses are involved. Competition, the media and politicians smell the weakness and the blood in the water. With what’s going on now it’s in danger of being regulated or completely banned. This is in part due to the fact that they are responding from a weakened position. They really need to circle the wagons, quit the in fighting and competing within the industry and organize or it’s just gonna get worse for them .

[Flashbackdiner]

Originally Posted by burnsy

Saratoga is the same way. Many young people but it’s a vacation , boutique meet. Horse racing is just part of the activities during that time up here. The problem is that less and less of these people become avid fans. You can’t point at the few exceptional days a year and say everything is great. With the amount of racing that is offered there are many days that other tracks and simulcasts are ghost towns. The few that are around make it look like an assisted living facility . My take is it isn’t dying but it’s limping along in stagnation. The demand does not meet the supply. Horse racing has lost stature, any one that says different is lying to themselves.

Besides the obvious business problems that come with this there are other repercussions. Being a weak link in the jungle of the gaming business leaves racing open to attack. Especially, since horses are involved. Competition, the media and politicians smell the weakness and the blood in the water. With what’s going on now it’s in danger of being regulated or completely banned. This is in part due to the fact that they are responding from a weakened position. They really need to circle the wagons, quit the in fighting and competing within the industry and organize or it’s just gonna get worse for them .

I actually agree with you but there is something that needs an explanation. When comparing meet over meet statistics almost all tracks have either met or exceeded the total handle the last several years. Are there a lot of ghost horse racing fans that simply bet online or on the phone that never make it out to the track? A friend of mine suggested that over the last decade more international money has been rolling in then ever before.

[NY BRED]

my record attending Saratoga is 43 straight years excluding last two
as we moved from NY/NJ during the two prior years.

I've made many suggestions to various parties at NYRA to consider
twilight racing, or even better, night racing in an effort to attract
the various age groups.

I would believe once "real" activity comes to Saratoga (ie table games)
night racing ,at least for 1-2 days during the meet wuld not only attract
more people to thew track, but increase handle for the "unfortunate souls" who work daytime.

Thankfully, I'll be at the Spa this year for the sales and will again discuss these thoughts with my contacts..

[FartyJones]

Hi Guys,

I have been ghosting this blog for about 2 years, and finally decided to make an account. I am a 27 year-old from South Florida living in Orlando (started out going to Calder in 2001), so I can weigh in a little bit.

1. Even though we have had two triple crown winners in the last 5 years, this year the amount of people that have reached out to me asking for my opinions on the race has quadrupled from 8 or 9 to about 30. So it seems all press is good press. Additionally only 1 or 2 people have mentioned Santa Anita, so even though I think it's a tragedy more people have mentioned Chad Brown's non-payments so I don't think it will have a major impact.

2. I think one of the major problems is too many days of racing. Too many race days is resulting in 6 or 7 horse races. When I take people to the track and they pick the third choice winner out of 6 horses, I have to explain to them why they are getting 5/2. This may be working for tracks for now, but bigger fields and telephone number payouts are what is going to draw in bigger crowds. Additionally, current horseplayers need to do a better job at bringing people in. I have recently started doing group bets with friends. Even though I had to explain to 9 others why they lost their share of the derby day pick 5, it is a good way to garner interest in the sport and I think they'll be back. (and next year my bachelor party at the derby should help too)

3. The tracks are gross. I'm convinced that the people at Calder and Gulfstream don't shower, they charge you $11 for a beer, and they never do anything to draw people in. Put together a farmers market or a flea market to get the young couples out there. Give people a reason to dress up and pretend that they have more money than they actually do. Downs after Dark at Churchill is extremely fun, they could implement that other places.

It's like the industry is not even trying!

[cosmo96]

I want to thank everyone for their replys. Everyone gave intelligent and well thought out replys. Whether I agree or not your replys were appreciated. If I did not think there were many problems in horseracing, I would have my head in the sand. I just don't like the extreme gloom and doomers. I think they do more to harm our sport than anything else. It is very hard to evaluate the popularity of horseracing. There are so many angles and scenarios. In the last sixty years the sports scene has changed dramatically. In the 70's NBA and NHL really caught on. Did anyone ever think there would be hockey in the dessert, and swamp. Years ago it would be unheard of to have all black NBA or college basketball teams. Most people have overcome their prejudice, and just want winners. The NFL did not blossom untill the mid 1950's. All of these factors have infringed on horseracing popularity. Horseracing is still very popular. People should consider ever changing sports scene. The bottom line is that we never had the competion that we have today. But, overall horseracing is still doing well.