PTC and the TOC

[yak merchant]

Originally Posted by riskman

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/45726.htm

These are companies that contribute nothing – nothing – to the overall good of the industry,” Couto said."


What does Couto mean by the above statement in bold italics?

What Couto really means is:

"I will make it my legacy to kill horse racing as we know it. I have no concept of supply or demand, and think that all my customers are the scum of the earth and have addictions much like crack addicts. Those with enough political ties to get a license to draw a circle in the dirt, are doing the world a great great service and should be rewarded as such. People who own horses have a god given right to take money from those stupid enough to wager it, or really poor people in general. Matter of fact, if I can give a few more politicians a reachy, then maybe I can get that extra percentage of sales tax added in California so that the general population can subsidize my way of life. Pay no attention to the fact that the youngest patron at our "Business" is an Ensure chugging card carrying member of AARP; that's merely a function of the fact that the ADW's are assasinating all the younger degenerate gamblers that should be turning their money over to me. Once they are outlawed by my circle jerk buddies in Congress, masses of new suckers will pile into our dirty smelly establishments that are manned by disgruntled incompentents, and hand over their money for the priviledge to watch five or six half lame nags run 6 furlongs. Long live the king."

[Imriledup]

Originally Posted by yak merchant

What Couto really means is:

"I will make it my legacy to kill horse racing as we know it. I have no concept of supply or demand, and think that all my customers are the scum of the earth and have addictions much like crack addicts. Those with enough political ties to get a license to draw a circle in the dirt, are doing the world a great great service and should be rewarded as such. People who own horses have a god given right to take money from those stupid enough to wager it, or really poor people in general. Matter of fact, if I can give a few more politicians a reachy, then maybe I can get that extra percentage of sales tax added in California so that the general population can subsidize my way of life. Pay no attention to the fact that the youngest patron at our "Business" is an Ensure chugging card carrying member of AARP; that's merely a function of the fact that the ADW's are assasinating all the younger degenerate gamblers that should be turning their money over to me. Once they are outlawed by my circle jerk buddies in Congress, masses of new suckers will pile into our dirty smelly establishments that are manned by disgruntled incompentents, and hand over their money for the priviledge to watch five or six half lame nags run 6 furlongs. Long live the king."

[Cangamble]

Originally Posted by yak merchant

What Couto really means is:

"I will make it my legacy to kill horse racing as we know it. I have no concept of supply or demand, and think that all my customers are the scum of the earth and have addictions much like crack addicts. Those with enough political ties to get a license to draw a circle in the dirt, are doing the world a great great service and should be rewarded as such. People who own horses have a god given right to take money from those stupid enough to wager it, or really poor people in general. Matter of fact, if I can give a few more politicians a reachy, then maybe I can get that extra percentage of sales tax added in California so that the general population can subsidize my way of life. Pay no attention to the fact that the youngest patron at our "Business" is an Ensure chugging card carrying member of AARP; that's merely a function of the fact that the ADW's are assasinating all the younger degenerate gamblers that should be turning their money over to me. Once they are outlawed by my circle jerk buddies in Congress, masses of new suckers will pile into our dirty smelly establishments that are manned by disgruntled incompentents, and hand over their money for the priviledge to watch five or six half lame nags run 6 furlongs. Long live the king."

Sounds like what Dave Willmot "thinks" too.

[Indulto]

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/45795.htm
Evans: CDI Committed to End ADW Dispute
by Ryan Conley June 19, 2008

A leading executive of Churchill Downs Inc. told a gathering of shareholders June 19 that he didn’t know when a nasty revenue-sharing dispute with horsemen would be resolved, but promised the company would do its part in reaching a satisfactory conclusion for all.

… The battle has resulted in respective drops of more than 10% and 70% in handle at Churchill Downs and Calder Race Course, which is also locked in a fight over future slot revenues and purse contracts.

… Handle on the Churchill Downs meet is down 10.14% to $416,889,932, according to data collected by The Jockey Club Information Systems, and is off 21.08% since a 20% purse cut was implemented by CDI at its signature Louisville track May 14. Purses for the entire meet have fallen 7.02% to a daily average of $493,238, and are down 14.19% to $357,621 since the purse cut was enacted.

… “We will also work to resolve our outstanding advance deposit wagering … disputes with horsemen, because we feel that is one of the greatest opportunities to grow our company across the country,” he said. “The demographic of the horse racing fan is on the older rather than the younger side of the ledger, but the future of our youth is heavily built around the Internet. And we need to utilize that to increase the growth of horse racing.” …

[Kelso]

Originally Posted by yak merchant

What Couto really means is:

"I will make it my legacy to kill horse racing as we know it. I have no concept of supply or demand, and think that all my customers are the scum of the earth and have addictions much like crack addicts. Those with enough political ties to get a license to draw a circle in the dirt, are doing the world a great great service and should be rewarded as such. People who own horses have a god given right to take money from those stupid enough to wager it, or really poor people in general. Matter of fact, if I can give a few more politicians a reachy, then maybe I can get that extra percentage of sales tax added in California so that the general population can subsidize my way of life. Pay no attention to the fact that the youngest patron at our "Business" is an Ensure chugging card carrying member of AARP; that's merely a function of the fact that the ADW's are assasinating all the younger degenerate gamblers that should be turning their money over to me. Once they are outlawed by my circle jerk buddies in Congress, masses of new suckers will pile into our dirty smelly establishments that are manned by disgruntled incompentents, and hand over their money for the priviledge to watch five or six half lame nags run 6 furlongs. Long live the king."

A positively brilliant piece, Yak. If you haven't done so already, I urge you to send this to your Congressman an Senators ... with copies to your local rag, The Wall Street Journal, the DRF (on the very longshot chance that it will slip past the censors in their marketing department) and a few of the television talking heads. Truths deserve exposure ... and your piece does exactly that.

[Indulto]

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/45913.htm
California's ADW Truce Endangered
by Jack Shinar June 28, 2008

… TVG has exclusive agreements with the three remaining major Thoroughbred meets in the southern half of the state -- Del Mar, Fairplex and Oak Tree. All that's left, as far as exclusive California content is concerned, is the Magna Entertainment-owned Golden Gate Fields stand this fall.

John Hindman, TVG's general counsel, told the California Horse Racing Board June 27 that in order to continue the arrangement, his company needs a better exchange of ADW content at fair prices.

The current experiment is to end with the conclusion of Hollywood Park's spring/summer meet. Coming up next is Del Mar, which ranks among the nation's biggest meets in overall handle and fan interest. The 2008 Breeders' Cup will be contested at Oak Tree, another big ticket event for the account wagering provider.

That's quite a bit to give away, commission chairman Richard Shapiro acknowledged.

Shapiro, noting that the CHRB has no standing to require TVG to abrogate its exclusive contracts, requested that ADW stake holders meet in the week following the July 4 weekend to see if it can come to a resolution before the Del Mar summer meet begins. While there was general enthusiasm for that, Hindman had left the meeting at the Alameda County Fairgrounds simulcast facility by the time the suggestion was made.

… "People thought that with shared content, it would grow a lot," Hindman added. "We weren't as sure, but we thought it would grow more than it did. We were disappointed."

Hindman explained TVG's position succinctly. "What we've seen so far is robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said. "For the first 3 1/2 months (of the trial period), we were Paul. Now we're Peter."

… Hindman noted, though, that "our inability to televise Santa Anita and Golden Gate minimized the impact that we could deliver."

… "As far as I can tell, there are no losers in this deal," said Craig Fravel, executive vice president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. "TVG may not have had as large a margin as they would have liked. But I've been watching their press releases and they seem to be doing pretty good."

… The TOC's Couto summed up by saying that the trial period saw increases in total ADW handle, track commissions, purses and ADW company revenue, creating happy fans and horsemen while improving access to race signals.

He warned that if the arrangement does not continue, ADW companies would be required to negotiate with the Thoroughbred Horsemen Group, the national consortium of 18 horsemen associations, for any future interstate signal agreements for California.

"What we have concluded is that this experiment was an unqualified success if you look at it for the good of the industry," Couto said.

It didn't seem like a great success to those who would prefer to wager through PTC.

Mr. Shapiro says the CHRB has no authority in this matter, but if if CA signals are held hostage by the THG along with those of FL and KY, surely that would warrant intervention by the Feds to change the IHA?

[DJofSD]

He warned that if the arrangement does not continue, ADW companies would be required to negotiate with the Thoroughbred Horsemen Group, the national consortium of 18 horsemen associations, for any future interstate signal agreements for California.

It didn't seem like a great success to those who would prefer to wager through PTC.

Mr. Shapiro says the CHRB has no authority in this matter, but if if CA signals are held hostage by the THG along with those of FL and KY, surely that would warrant intervention by the Feds to change the IHA?

As far as I am concerned, the action by THG has elevated this issue to the national level. It is now in the Federal government's domain. The U.S. Constitution grants the Congress the right to oversee all interstate commerce. The action of THG and the inability of parties like CDI and the CHRB begs for a solution at the federal level.

[rrbauer]

If I was in TVG's shoes, I wouldn't blink. They have done more to promote Calif racing than any of the other ADW providers and while I don't subscribe to the exclusivity crap they have a business advantage and would be foolish not to pursue it.

The CHRB has had plenty of opportunities to get the ADW law changed and, at one time, the then-chairman Alan Landsburg, who subsequently chaired the pari-mutuel operations committee, spoke of a need to open the ADW process so that it was a free market operation and spoke of making it happen before the first contracts of the original ADW providers expired so that it became a condition of license renewal. That didn't happen, it hasn't happened since and now the current chairman Shapiro talks like his normal pro-active stance has been abandoned (for this issue). There's something below the surface here and must have something to do with keeping the Calif players in tow; and, the current setup seems to allow the CHRB (and TOC?) to do that.

I can see the feds getting involved with the medication issues of the game, but I doubt that they give a crap about who bets which tracks and with whom.