Quote:
Originally Posted by jnunan4759
This is the tricky slope. The MLB, NFL and NBA profit from butts in the seats. Only. Horseracing is an active event with wagering. Most of the revenue is derived from that wagering. The more you have to pay for admission, food, beer and others detract from the wagering,
I can see what Kay and Panza are doing and it is making NYRA profitable.
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There are indeed lots of levels to this discussion. At a venue like Saratoga, retail sales are huge - parking, admission, tickets, concessions.
If any random visitor pays $50 in the above categories, he/she would have to wager roughly $200-$300 for NYRA to acquire equivalent revenues, assuming you disregard taxes, purse contributions etc. Last year's Travers per capita was on the lower end of that range (note: I'm not 100% sure what handle sources were shoved into the figures in the story that reported handle/attendance from last year, but ultimately, $200 is rather high IMO).
So if you just let everyone in for free and charged them nothing, good luck getting each person to churn $50 into $200-300 via wagering alone. It would not be sustainable.