11.4% takeout at Laurel?

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

Seriously, do the OTB's have the power today that they held 5-10 years ago with the internert? I have not been to an OTB in several years. Most of the tracks are going to their own ADW system anyways.

Put it another way, do the racetracks have less power than they did 5-10 years ago? Interstate wagering and ADW wagering now account for 80%+ of handle at 90%+ of meets (SoCal and Belmont handle more ontrack, 30-40%). From what I read, ADW wagering is the sole growth segment of the three. When Keeneland tried a couple years ago to lower takeout on exotics, a number of Mid-Atlantic tracks dropped their signal citing they would lose handle on their product to Keeneland's more attractive pools. Keeneland backed down. The biggest problem is that the 'signal fee' contracts between host tracks and those importing the signal (Interstate/ADW) generally provide for the host track keeping only 20-25% of total takeout vs 75-80% to those not actually running the races. Here's an example.... On a typical Saturday afternoon at Palm Beach Kennel Club they handle about $200,000 on-track for their own races. They also handle over $400,000 on Gulfstream. NYRA and Santa Anita combined. Their expenses on that T-bred handle are modest and yet they keep 75% of the takeout, making it more profitable than their live handle on their own product. It does not make sense, at least to me. The problem dates back to when simulcasting started in the '80's and people managing racetracks made the incorrect assumption that interstate wagering would be "found" or extra handle and their own on track handle would not be cannibalized. They could not have been more wrong.