DMD,

I live five minutes from Belmont. I love live racing and socializing at the track with people I've known for many years. Despite that, it's tough to get me to drive there to deal with the incremental costs and lower convenience (not to mention the lower take that is available away from the track).

Nothing beats placing a bet online, going to the refrigerator for a beer, and relaxing on my sofa during the race. If I'm going to skip a few races, I play a little poker, run a few errands, etc... and pick up right where I left off.

If you can't get a guy like me out there, how are are you going to get the average guy or family who doesn't even think about "take", handicapping, the DRF etc... out there?

I think it's going to take more than just cutting costs, a comparable take, and a somewhat enhanced entertainment experience. It's going to take more great races. The kind that spark real sporting interest! That's what would get me out there more often.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. IMO the future of industry is online betting. This industry needs to be consolidated into a handful of supertracks that can support live racing on their own (in major markets) with super high caliber racing and betting coming in from all over the world.

That thought might be unpleasant for many, but IMO the rest of the industry needs to be slowly shrunk/eliminated. It doesn't make economic sense to have all these tracks all over the country wasting valuable real estate in an industry where practically everyone is losing their shirt and the only hope is slot machines that could easily be put into smaller facilities anywhere.

Racing can regain the old days of huge crowds and public interest, but only on a much more limited basis. We can get there, but only by starting with sound economics. Times have changed.