A No Brainer to Increase Handle

[DeanT]

Originally Posted by slewis

You are probably pretty accurate here.

Now I'll ask....what will your percentage be 15 yrs from now?


Still 8 of 10 being over 50?

More like 9.7 out of 10 over 50.


See the problem Dean?

Yep I agree (somewhat). However, I take it from a different perspective, which andymays said above. Whereas tracks think of offering "bands" or giveways for a night out to get at the under 50 market (who does not bet or come back very often) I look at things like betting exchanges and value to get people to look at you (under the age of 50). The majority of exchange players are under 50, for example, just like the majority using online brokers as early adopters in the 1990's were that age group as well.

It's the medium more than the product with these folks I think. Offer them value and a neat way to play where they have a chance to make some scratch and there is no telling what can happen (in my opinion)

[jballscalls]

Originally Posted by slewis

Maybe I was wrong. I dont feel like researching it.

I based my comment on what a Kentucky based trainer told me....on how much of a "social event" the friday evening racing had become.

Regardless, how do you get 20-40 yr olds interested in racing if they are working 8-6 M-F?

With so many things to do on weekends, especially in NY, it's very obvious why everyone interested in racing is over 50.

NOTHING is done to cultivate the young person....NOTHING.

how often do you go to the track?? do you go 5 days a week? 3 days a week? what is your local track?

[eastie]

Originally Posted by slewis

Maybe I was wrong. I dont feel like researching it.

I based my comment on what a Kentucky based trainer told me....on how much of a "social event" the friday evening racing had become.

Regardless, how do you get 20-40 yr olds interested in racing if they are working 8-6 M-F?

With so many things to do on weekends, especially in NY, it's very obvious why everyone interested in racing is over 50.

NOTHING is done to cultivate the young person....NOTHING.

it's the parents fault. if you guys started taking your kids to the track they would become fans. Get them excited about going to the track. They are gonna win the first time, it's automatic. That's how the sport lures the beginners back. You just have to get them to the track. They'll be chasing that first winner for 20 years. Going to the track to see Riva Ridge was all I needed. Those blue and white silks...wow.

[jballscalls]

Originally Posted by eastie

it's the parents fault. if you guys started taking your kids to the track they would become fans. Get them excited about going to the track. They are gonna win the first time, it's automatic. That's how the sport lures the beginners back. You just have to get them to the track. They'll be chasing that first winner for 20 years. Going to the track to see Riva Ridge was all I needed. Those blue and white silks...wow.

thats how i became a fan. i've said it on this forum a million times, lifelong fans are most often created by going to the track with their dads, moms, grandparents etc.

it would be funny however to see Andymays or cangamble at the track with their 8 year old explaining the injustices of takeout!!

[markgoldie]

Harness racing has been mostly a night-time sport forever and the handles are down, I would imagine, reasonably comparably to thoroughbred racing. Therefore, I don't believe that simply shifting the post times would do much- especially over the long haul.

We've been over the causes of the decline before, which essentially boil down to increased legalized betting competition from venues that are far easier to understand and which produce a much greater return to the player.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Originally Posted by eastie

it's the parents fault. if you guys started taking your kids to the track they would become fans. ...

The only problem is when little Jimmy shows up for show and tell with a $2 win ticket on Zenyatta and a tale of spending all-day betting on the horses, his teacher is probably obligated to call child protective services anymore in this wacky world.

[Charli125]

Originally Posted by jballscalls

it would be funny however to see Andymays or cangamble at the track with their 8 year old explaining the injustices of takeout!!

I would pay to see that!

[BillW]

Originally Posted by jballscalls

it would be funny however to see Andymays or cangamble at the track with their 8 year old explaining the injustices of takeout!!

The avg 8 year old wouldn't take much splainin'

[slewis]

Originally Posted by jballscalls

how often do you go to the track?? do you go 5 days a week? 3 days a week? what is your local track?

You're a funny guy.

What's your point?

[Horseplayersbet.com]

Originally Posted by jballscalls

thats how i became a fan. i've said it on this forum a million times, lifelong fans are most often created by going to the track with their dads, moms, grandparents etc.

it would be funny however to see Andymays or cangamble at the track with their 8 year old explaining the injustices of takeout!!

I started going to the track with my father when I was 4 (probably before that). But between 4 and 9 or 10 I used to get the change every time he cashed a ticket.
In the 60's there was just one double and one exactor, maybe two. He bet $4 win usually. I always routed for his horse and hoped the horse would pay something 90. That way I had baseball/ hockey card/sports book money.

It was different back then. Takeout wasn't an issue. Lots of dummy money in the pools. No 25% tris every race or other tracks to bet on. Players could last, and if someone had a speed variant system going in the 60's, like my father, winning wasn't difficult.

Today, horse racing isn't the only game in town, there isn't a buzz that the game can be beat, and rightfully so...if you go against the takeout especially.

We can't turn the back the hands of time, unfortunately, so racing has to become all about gambling if it is to gain a market share....and this means takeout reduction.

[Pell Mell]

Originally Posted by GatetoWire

Can anyone give me a real good reason why no major track has decided to race at night during the week?

How much more would the NYRA handle be if they raced Wed, Thur and Friday at night?

I know there are laws preventing night racing but let's get serious. Baseball use to only play day games during the week but they realized that the people with the capital to buy the tickets all have day jobs. The result...90% of all baseball games during the week are at night.

Why...because they make more money by playing the games at night.

I like most people under the age of 60 work during the day and as a result basically only play on Weekends and during the occasionally holiday when I am off work.

My handle would dramatically rise if I had a East Coast dirt track with great racing Wed, Thur and Friday that didn't require me to miss work in order to see.

Am I missing something? How could handle not rise by catering to the masses and racing when they are not working?

I think TV had more to do with BB games at night than the teams or leagues did. TV dictates a lot of sport schedules because that's where the money is. Just ask the Yankees.

[proximity]

Originally Posted by GatetoWire

My handle would dramatically rise if I had a East Coast dirt track with great racing Wed, Thur and Friday that didn't require me to miss work in order to see.

not sure why it has to be east coast, but both penn national and charles town are dirt tracks that race pretty much year round on these nights. as there are probably more overlays at these two tracks than at all of the surrounding tracks combined and good rebates are available...... i'd say that qualifies as great racing.

also, not east coast, but the delta/evangeline circuit goes almost year round and the fields are great at these tracks. and although this circuit is on a short break right now, the current remington park meet is running on these nights with huge fields..... probably the best betting meet in the country right now.

[fmolf]

I believe they also race at night in texas as well......I think cal. is on the right track with fri. nite bands .....Nyra shoul try nite racing set up a niteclub with dancing and let ladies drink free from 8(post time) till 10 pm.If the fillies come the colts will follow.make sure their are enough big screen tv's showing your tracks races and select sporting events.People will eventually start to gamble if you make it a fun night for them.Casinos have plenty to do besides gamble.Perhaps this is the direction we are going in ...racetracks as destination resorts!!!!!....lol

[Irish Boy]

Nothing discourages young patrons more than going to a track that smells like piss and looks like it smells like piss. You look all around and you see paint chipping and falling off of walls, unkempt patrons swearing at little TVs, graphics from the 1970s, etc. People at the track specifically to win money don't really care much about these things, or at least learn to ignore them. People new to the sport look around and see the House of Degenerates and wonder why the hell they are wasting their afternoon.

[samyn on the green]

You got that right.

Originally Posted by Irish Boy

Nothing discourages young patrons more than going to a track that smells like piss and looks like it smells like piss. You look all around and you see paint chipping and falling off of walls, unkempt patrons swearing at little TVs, graphics from the 1970s, etc. People at the track specifically to win money don't really care much about these things, or at least learn to ignore them. People new to the sport look around and see the House of Degenerates and wonder why the hell they are wasting their afternoon.