Re: Racing Don't Need This! (626 Views)
Posted by:
HP (IP Logged)
Date: September 11, 2015 11:51AM
I don't know how much of a difference this makes but people who bet on football probably played football at some point? I don't know quite how to phrase it but horse racing is more purely about gambling and less about really being involved in the sport. A lot of good suggestions on this string about educating players but it's all about betting strategies, etc. It's not about riding a horse or having that experience vs. betting on a game that you actually played? Part of me getting into racing was actually riding horses as a kid, upstate in the summer and over at Prospect Park when they had stables there.
It's no accident that the decline in horse racing coincides with the decline in people actually going to the track and seeing it up close. There is a level of connection when you bet on football or hold cards in your hand that does not exist when you are watching something on TV. Simulcasting does not engage new players on a visceral level, and they have no memory of riding a horse that equates in their imagination with catching a TD pass at the schoolyard. When people went to the track they were more connected to the sight and sound of the sport. Except for big days that's over.
Casinos also do a much better job of dressing up gambling with nice facilities and chandeliers and making you feel like you are doing something special. I liked the track and OTB precisely because it was a little dirty, but I'm afraid for most people it's a turnoff, and newbies are going to look elsewhere, when they aren't staring at their damned iPhones.