Horse Racing admission prices
 

I always wondered why everyone was always so over-dressed when you look at a lot of these old time pictures of people at the race track.




I never realized how high the admission prices to get into the track were.


In 1920, Babe Ruth (in his 7th season in the Majors) hit 54 Home-Runs for the New York Yankees over a season that was 154 games long. Babe Ruth made a salary of just $20,000

In 1920, Man O' War made over $166,000 in earnings and he didn't even show up for the Kentucky Derby or Suburban Handicap (despite a favorable 114lbs weight assignment)

In 1921, General Admission for any day of racing at Belmont Park was $3.85 ($50 today adjusted for inflation) Preferred admission was $3.85 extra for men and $1.10 extra for women.

In 1921, if you wanted to watch Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees play for a championship in the World Series...this is what your ticket options looked like:

Bleachers: $1.10




Mezzanine: $3.30




Lower Stand Reserved seating: $5.50 (a mere $70 adjusted for inflation for the best seats in the house at the World Series)




The OTB's of old were pool halls. They broadcasted horse racing via telegraphs. Some of the famous horse bettors like Pittsburgh Phil graduated from the Pool Halls.

Obviously, the bettors back than had a monster advantage of the low takeout. But asking people to pay that much money just to attend the racetrack is still pretty crazy.

How many race days were there at Belmont or the comparable NYC-area tracks in 1921?

151 racing days.

Belmont had 36 days.

Saratoga had 27 days.

The rest were at the other NYC -area tracks (Jamaica, Empire City, Aqueduct)

I'm not 100 percent sure -- but it would appear as though purses were largely funded by admission prices for the customers who came to the track -- and by charging licensed bookmakers fees to operate on the grounds of the race track.

Basically, if I have that right, the track got none of the betting handle for purses.

The bookmakers offered different prices on horses and always at a very low takeout because of competition -- and this allowed a VERY favorable market for bettors.

In 1902, just general admission was $3 at all the major New York tracks.

Adjusted for inflation, that would be $80 today.

The average wage was $474 a year in 1902 -- in other words, the avg person made $9 a week in income.

$75 for a preseason ticket to a Buffalo Bills game!





And you just have to watch the game and can't even bet between plays.

Lol! Nice, I'll be there too.