Horse racing handles up

[lamboguy]

every track that has opened up so far have increased handles over last year.

my best example is The Mountain tonight. they are going to do over $2 million tonight. last year i doubt if they came close to $1 million around the same time frame.

2 reasons that i see for this. the federal case against the drug users and the Fox broadcast of racing. its the best telecast i have ever seen on regular television on racing for a gamblers perspective. i think there will be plenty of new fans for the game because of this.

[classhandicapper]

The Fox broadcast is very good.

[horses4courses]

There is little or nothing else to bet around the world right now.
Horse racing is the only game in town....like the good old days.

Fox broadcast is excellent, and that helps a lot.

[GMB@BP]

These increases are marginal over last year.

Is it enough to replace the lost casino revenue? That is the real question.

[Afleet]

Originally Posted by GMB@BP

These increases are marginal over last year.

Is it enough to replace the lost casino revenue? That is the real question.

you mean total handle I assume? Increases were more than marginal at Fonner (won't happen again next year) and WRD. Didn't OP handle $40 million in one day and break all kinds of records.

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

every track that has opened up so far have increased handles over last year.

my best example is The Mountain tonight. they are going to do over $2 million tonight. last year i doubt if they came close to $1 million around the same time frame.

2 reasons that i see for this. the federal case against the drug users and the Fox broadcast of racing. its the best telecast i have ever seen on regular television on racing for a gamblers perspective. i think there will be plenty of new fans for the game because of this.

Handle nationwide was down 30% in 2020 from 2019, but race days were down 72% so the individual tracks that stayed open were way up. I guess only being down 30% is good, but there's also virtually no gambling competition, there are so few tracks running, lots of people aren't working, the Derby and Preakness do huge numbers but didn't run, etc. The comparison is nearly meaningless.

On the plus side, the FOX broadcasts have been tremendously well done. Two thumbs way up for those.

[Track Phantom]

If sports was in full gear I suspect horse racing wouldn't get nearly the same attention.

[castaway01]

Since I didn't say that clearly and can't edit it again, I meant May 2020 total handle nationwide was 30% lower than it was in May 2019.

[Redboard]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

The Fox broadcast is very good.

I haven’t watched every day, only Fridays and Saturdays, but I liked the opening announcers of Acacia Courtney & Andy Serling—sort of a beauty and the beast juxtaposition— fun and entertaining. Then they switched to Mic and Greg Wolf at 4pm, for no apparent reason. Borrrring! The opening duo should do the whole thing. Sometimes more is always not better.

I bet with tvg.com so I didn't have the problems some here had on Saturday.

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by Afleet

you mean total handle I assume? Increases were more than marginal at Fonner (won't happen again next year) and WRD. Didn't OP handle $40 million in one day and break all kinds of records.

yes, for example yesterday it was about about 1.5 million over the same day last year....so its up, just not dramatically.

[lamboguy]

may racing did not have The Kentucky Derby or Preakness Stakes this year and didn't have that many tracks running and some that did run had an abreviated schedule.

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

may racing did not have The Kentucky Derby or Preakness Stakes this year and didn't have that many tracks running and some that did run had an abreviated schedule.

what you are seeing is the same amount of money just being spread over less tracks, as new tracks have come on line, for the most part you are not seeing more money, just the amounts spread out.

[Waquoit]

Field sizes seem especially large in the tracks I've been playing. That can't hurt.

[biggestal99]

The vast majority of the handle is not on track. Therefore the horsemen are not the beneficiaries. The adws are.

Revenue for the horsemen nationwide is down way more than 30%

Allan

[rastajenk]

It would be nice if the adw's would share a couple percentage points with the people that make the game happen. Many other companies and corporations in other industries are making efforts that show "we're all in this together."