Monday, July 21, 2008
The Cure to Empty Seats Syndrome
(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – July 21, 2008) It is impossible to determine the exact date of death for horse racing in America as a spectator sport. Carbon dating conducted on a cadaver found in Aqueduct’s abandoned grandstand suggests that it happened 30 years ago. The discovery of a 2001 Hialeah betting slip in the wallet of a 120-year-old man in a North Miami cryogenics lab has been credited as proof that the demise was, in fact, recent.
As a matter of record, the end came on with a plague. In the early 1980s, when the first signs of simulcast technology surfaced, racetracks abandoned their social contracts. When the NTRA decided an unhealthy diet of drab competition was unmarketable, it developed a fatty strategy that placed emphasis on special events, thus acknowledging that the game’s everyday pursuit did indeed appeal only to gamblers. When the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships made auditions out of dozens of $1 million fixtures, even races of historic proportion lacked anodyne.
In five of the last six years, Del Mar in Southern California has drawn crowds of more than 40,000 people for the opener to its traditional summer meet. Wednesday’s raucous crowd was reported at 43,459, the second highest ever – this despite fears that the high cost of a tank of gas would restrict the affordability of margaritas at the oceanfront course considerably, thus discouraging commuters.
Saratoga Race Course, on the edges of Siro’s in God’s country, is another destination racetrack that faces the same challenge. But it won’t be the first time that someone has placed an obstacle in front of New Yorkers, and track officials believe that they’re headed for another huge season. Last August, as NYRA faced extinction and mud was slung in Saratoga Springs as if it was Singapore, the track broke betting records. It’s believed that a run of rainless days and a surprise visit by either Big Brown for the Travers or by Curlin for the Sword Dancer could send the size of its crowds soaring.
Naturally, the popularity of Del Mar and Saratoga are explained by the fact that these tracks run boutique meets at which high level horses commingle with high energy fun for a brief stint that lasts less than a few weeks each summer. If you want to enjoy live horse racing at its best, the thinking at these places of business is that you either show up during the few days on which the product’s available or miss it. Hand in glove with this thinking, both tracks offer a product that’s sensational.
When Saratoga opens this Wednesday for 36 days, there will be a stakes race each day, of which 33 will be graded stakes for nearly $10 million in purse money. Visitors will find a sold-out clubhouse and grandstand, jam-packed picnic grounds, and a social scene unique in the fact that, win or lose, there’ll be no regrets for putting up with stifling heat, dusty seats, endless betting lines, and distant parking. Now, how’s that for a corner on the market? More appropriate to this article - now, how’s that for a sport that is dead as a spectator event?
Considering that the exception to the rule seems the better part of logic, perhaps it’s time for a crazy idea. For the good of the sport on several fronts, maybe other racetracks, beside Del Mar and Saratoga should shutter their doors to the public for most of the year. What is there about trekking to Hawthorne in March that can help racing to develop its public? Have you ever been to Turfway in February? Where has the perpetual grind of year-round racing gotten us?
Oh, no. This isn’t a suggestion that racetracks should exist non-productively. That horse has left the barn, to borrow a euphemism. The tracks need to race horses year-round, of course. But let them tell fans to stay away, watch the sport on TV, make their bets on the Internet, and wait for the real show to come around. (We’re not too far from that anyway.) Then, let them put on a show – Saratoga and Del Mar-styled - that’s worth waiting for. Imagine the money saved and made in the interim.
Pari-mutuel handle isn’t the problem with horse racing, attendance is. Close to $16 billion was generated throughout North America last year, creating over $3 billion in revenue – on a par with professional basketball (the NBA) and more than professional hockey (the NHL). Internet, simulcast and telephone account betting represent over 85 percent of all monies wagered. Why do racetracks need fans in the stands? Horse racing’s supporters stand up for the sport. Let them be where they are - participants in virtual reality.
The idea of conducting the sport without a live audience is so preposterous, it might be genius. As it stands now, the racetracks are sinking money into operations that exist for a market that doesn’t deserve the investment. Why pretend? By consolidating the best racing and a unique ambiance into one short spell of the year in selected markets, the game could have more than two racetracks where human life persists.
There is a future for post-Apocalyptic horse racing. Someone simply needs the vision, the courage, and a Del Mar margarita to pull the trigger.
Written by Vic Zast
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