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Originally Posted by Zippy Chippy
Fifty years later and we are still having this same debate: is it better for horse racing to lose a few bucks but gain much more exposure by giving the product away for free? Or should the industry squeeze every last penny out of its existing fan base and HOPE that a new generation will somehow become rabid about a sport it has largely been denied access to?
Fifty years ago, major league baseball and the NFL decided to "give their product away" and the short-term revenue they "lost" was made up by a massive increase in their sports' fan bases. It's crazy to think that the horse racing industry refuses to learn this lesson of history. The industry is making the same bad decision it made back in the 1950s despite all the proof that it was a bad decision  |
I think you make good points . However I think that TV was a new medium then just as the internet is now and even as Congress gave us internet betting on a silver platter the greed of the tracks has screwed that up. The insistence of a few of the bigger racetracks companies to do things their way on their terms with no thought to the longterm health of the industry (or shortterm for that matter) will cause disharmony for years to come.