I had a dream...

[cj]

...that one day there were only five thoroughbred tracks running in the US, and they actually coordinated their schedules so three of them didn't run races right on top of each other.

Crazy stuff, eh?

[RaceBookJoe]

Originally Posted by cj

...that one day there were only five thoroughbred tracks running in the US, and they actually coordinated their schedules so three of them didn't run races right on top of each other.

Crazy stuff, eh?

Yep, that's exactly what that was haha

[horses4courses]

Originally Posted by cj

...that one day there were only five thoroughbred tracks running in the US, and they actually coordinated their schedules so three of them didn't run races right on top of each other.

Crazy stuff, eh?

Are you completely out of your mind???

[lamboguy]

there was a day when there were more racetracks open than now and all of them were packed. the total population in this country was slightly over 140 million people. today the population is double that and the racetracks are empty.

if there was only 5 tracks open some day, they would probably all be empty as well if this game doesn't find itself and make the changes to attract customer's instead of repelling them.

[Grits]

150 summers in a row. Look at the crowds..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z90w6C6zdSo

[JBmadera]

Been thinking the same thing for years, but I would also add some kind of "minor league" where talent (both horses and owners) can develop. It comes down to sustainability and in its current form racing doesn't appear to be self sustaining.

[Stillriledup]

A large portion of the "takeout" goes to sustaining the sport, the horseplayer is essentially footing the bill for the purses and the salaries of the trainers and jockeys. If you make a bet on an NFL game in Vegas, you are paying 0 percent to 'sustain' the sport...which is what makes a sports bet a much better gamble and that's why sports bettors really have no incentive to start betting the ponies, the price is NOT right.

Or, as Adam Sandler says in the movie Happy Gilmore, "The price is WRONG, b*tch"

[wiffleball whizz]

Originally Posted by cj

...that one day there were only five thoroughbred tracks running in the US, and they actually coordinated their schedules so three of them didn't run races right on top of each other.

Crazy stuff, eh?

In 20 years that is the over under......5.5 you will have your wish

Belmont
Saratoga (aqueduct will cease racing)
Delmar or Santa Anita
Churchill
Pimlico

Meadowlands

You can go over or under......and that it

And to be honest god forbid there's another Barbaro incident in one of the big stages on national tv I can see horse racing being labeled as cruel like dog racing....heard that from several big name politicians...

Total years 5.5 that's the number

At least when I'm 52 I won't get cheated at northfield, Yonkers, Hawthorne, Calder etc etc etc.....a lot of things can change in 20 years....did anybody think in Boston in 1992 that dogs would be outlawed in Connecticut and massachussetts?

[cj]

I was actually just talking about today. There were only five running, yet Delaware, Parx, and Suffolk all ran a race within a minute of each other. Not exactly the way to increase handle other than the degenerates that bounce from monitor to monitor playing numbers.

Originally Posted by wiffleball whizz

In 20 years that is the over under......5.5 you will have your wish

Belmont
Saratoga (aqueduct will cease racing)
Delmar or Santa Anita
Churchill
Pimlico

Meadowlands

You can go over or under......and that it

And to be honest god forbid there's another Barbaro incident in one of the big stages on national tv I can see horse racing being labeled as cruel like dog racing....heard that from several big name politicians...

Total years 5.5 that's the number

At least when I'm 52 I won't get cheated at northfield, Yonkers, Hawthorne, Calder etc etc etc.....a lot of things can change in 20 years....did anybody think in Boston in 1992 that dogs would be outlawed in Connecticut and massachussetts?

[therussmeister]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

there was a day when there were more racetracks open than now and all of them were packed. the total population in this country was slightly over 140 million people. today the population is double that and the racetracks are empty.

if there was only 5 tracks open some day, they would probably all be empty as well if this game doesn't find itself and make the changes to attract customer's instead of repelling them.

Today there are OTBs and ADWs.

[Zydeco]

Originally Posted by cj

I was actually just talking about today. There were only five running, yet Delaware, Parx, and Suffolk all ran a race within a minute of each other. Not exactly the way to increase handle other than the degenerates that bounce from monitor to monitor playing numbers.

you are exactly right...on Mondays and Tuesdays i like to play some parlays.....but suffolk can't wait for the prices to come in from Delaware...so they lose my bet...parx can't wait for delaware to finish...etc etc

[VeryOldMan]

Originally Posted by therussmeister

Today there are OTBs and ADWs.

Perhaps more importantly - there are state lotteries and casinos in a crazy number of states (not just Vegas like the old days). Throw in online gaming of all sorts, and it's no wonder we don't have dozens of packed racetracks like 50 years ago.

[wiffleball whizz]

Originally Posted by cj

I was actually just talking about today. There were only five running, yet Delaware, Parx, and Suffolk all ran a race within a minute of each other. Not exactly the way to increase handle other than the degenerates that bounce from monitor to monitor playing numbers.

Boggles the mind how stupid track execs can be to fire off races all at the same time.....3 tracks with with a race every 10 or 11 min can happen and everybody profits......there just do dumb its unreal

Even the big 10 is starting to get smart....they used to cram all the games in at noon with the game of the week at 3:30...now they are playing some games at 12 others at 330 and now even got with the times and play at night now

To have everything at 1 time is just moronic the big 10 was just an example I could come up with

[Cannon shell]

Originally Posted by Stillriledup

A large portion of the "takeout" goes to sustaining the sport, the horseplayer is essentially footing the bill for the purses and the salaries of the trainers and jockeys. If you make a bet on an NFL game in Vegas, you are paying 0 percent to 'sustain' the sport...which is what makes a sports bet a much better gamble and that's why sports bettors really have no incentive to start betting the ponies, the price is NOT right.

Or, as Adam Sandler says in the movie Happy Gilmore, "The price is WRONG, b*tch"

At many tracks your betting dollar hardly pays any of the purses for those "lucrative salaries".
However where you are really mistaken is thinking that TV networks would be paying billions of dollars for TV rights (or advertisers ponying up insane ad prices) to NFL games if gambling on the sport wasn't allowed. So yeah maybe your cash plunked down on a game in Vegas doesn't directly wind up in the pocket of some running back but if more people stop betting on the NFL which would lead to a decrease in ratings, lower ad fees and lower TV money the sustainability of the sport will suffer.

The "price" to play this game is still too high but the state and tracks are the ones who should be giving back not the horsemen. On the whole we lose money while the other two parties that share in the takeout never do.

[Stillriledup]

Originally Posted by Cannon shell

At many tracks your betting dollar hardly pays any of the purses for those "lucrative salaries".
However where you are really mistaken is thinking that TV networks would be paying billions of dollars for TV rights (or advertisers ponying up insane ad prices) to NFL games if gambling on the sport wasn't allowed. So yeah maybe your cash plunked down on a game in Vegas doesn't directly wind up in the pocket of some running back but if more people stop betting on the NFL which would lead to a decrease in ratings, lower ad fees and lower TV money the sustainability of the sport will suffer.

The "price" to play this game is still too high but the state and tracks are the ones who should be giving back not the horsemen. On the whole we lose money while the other two parties that share in the takeout never do.

Horse racing needs to become like the NFL, find a way to not have to rely on the bettors to pay the freight.