ringato3 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Joe B,
>
> Horribly misguided post.
>
> Would actually argue the EXACT OPPOSITE. Playing
> into a game with a 15 to 25% takeout, with obvious
> and wide drug problems which at times make the
> takeout seem like the SMALLER problem, is
> something our youth are too smart to do.
>
> I have two "kids" in their early 20's, who at
> times have dropped me off at the local betting
> establishment or even had a meal with me there.
> And they have often looked around at the people
> that frequent the place and said "Dad, really?
> this is your peer group that you hang out with?".
>
> Our kids are not the problem.
>
> The game has the problem. Nothing about this game
> attracts the next generation. Don't kid yourself,
> the next generation is more computer literate,
> more math oriented, and can look at what this game
> offers and see that there are MUCH BETTER WAYS to
> try and beat another game than there is at horse
> racing.
>
> Sorry Joe B, but your short sighted post is
> EXACTLY the reason the game is dying and will die.
> What you wrote is sort of the approach that the
> racing authorities are taking. They don't think
> THEY are the problem.
>
> Anyway, no offense is meant, but this is a
> sensitive subject for me as i do love the game as
> I am guessing you do as well. But without making
> changes and increasing appeal, the game will die.
> I have no doubts about it. I am late 40's. When
> I go to a racing establishment is the ONLY TIME I
> feel young. The demographic has a median age in
> the 60's. There are very very few people younger
> than my age that go to the track.
>
> Rob


Rob, many good points here, but I will shade a couple in response. I don't know the impact that sports betting has had on race betting, but there will be no way for the latter to compete with the former. There is no comparison of the exposure from age five, onward, and the combination of the games themselves, ESPN coverage and computer-generated information offers them a familiarity with the sport in their teens that gives football an almost insurmountable lead over racing. It is a common language for them, and also gives them the illusion of expertise (though a few have the real thing) that is evident if you spend any time on the message board of your favorite pro or college team. It's woven in the social fabric of their upbringing in ways that would not have been true in the nasccent days of ESPN and internet thirty to forty years ago when many of us were first dipping our toes in the water of thoroughbred racing.

As for the takeout and drugs, I think that is more of a factor in attrition of existing players than it is a hindrance to new ones, but I'm not suggesting that makes it any less of a problem. It effectively compounds the felony. There is no question in my mind that the sport requites major upheaval, and there is also no question that the kind of change required, apart from (and in addition to) take out and drugs won't occur in the current landscape, because it requires centralization of authority and visionary leadership. The sport is not without its appeal, as evidenced by success of tracks mentioned elsewhere in this thread, but the success is segmented and unique in ways that are hard to replicate because of territoriality issues of both government and short-sighted leadership. It is not a growth industry in the best and most unrealistic scenario, but rather, on most days it seems to embody the oft-quoted line from the cartoon strip, "Pogo" -- "We have met the enemy and he is us."