Improving the product

[Bobby Fischer]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

Who's going to pay for that? Are TVG and HRTV going to decrease what it costs to carry their signal to cable providers proportionally based on the number of new subscribers each company connects each year?

Sounds like a pretty expensive experiment when most people with new connects wouldn't give either of those channels the time of day, and the networks would be footing the bill all the same.

you either have to invest in cable time or pay tvg/hrtv

dont forget the money it would cost to facilitate prime time racing, hire classA announcers, and put up all those ad banners on the rails.

either way it is an investment

i happen to be a big believer in the wonders of mass media on a product. I could be wrong.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Bobby Fischer

you either have to invest in cable time or pay tvg/hrtv

dont forget the money it would cost to facilitate prime time racing, hire classA announcers, and put up all those ad banners on the rails.

either way it is an investment

i happen to be a big believer in the wonders of mass media on a product. I could be wrong.

I guess I'm just confused as to how you're getting to your endpoint in this scenario.

Who is investing? Who is going to pay TVG/HRTV to continue to broadcast and compensate their on-air talent while they are giving their product away for free, or on the flipside, who is going to compensate the cable companies who are apparently just going to flip the switch and give away channels for free after already paying for them?

Where is the money going to come from? That's a hell of a lot of money to cover 6 months worth of broadcast time.

[Rudeboyelvis]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

Who is investing? Who is going to pay TVG/HRTV to continue to broadcast and compensate their on-air talent while they are giving their product away for free, or on the flipside, who is going to compensate the cable companies who are apparently just going to flip the switch and give away channels for free after already paying for them?

I hardly think that Chef Tony and Billy Mays hawking their crap between races is paying the brunt of the bills...I would suspect that the networks (TVG/HRTV) exist to pimp their own AWD's and are additionally compensated by the tracks they cover. Maybe not...But the amount of revenue they recieve from your cable bill is inconsequencial. Offering the service free of charge is not as far off as one would think.

[MISTERGEE]

how bout this idea

1-make it so there is almost no where to sit to see racing live

2-treat everyone like crap

3-make the experience extremely uncomfortable

4-rip everyone off

5-serve plenty of Franks energy drink

oops, damnit this has already been done--------GP 2008

[whodey17]

Originally Posted by MISTERGEE

how bout this idea

1-make it so there is almost no where to sit to see racing live

2-treat everyone like crap

3-make the experience extremely uncomfortable

4-rip everyone off

5-serve plenty of Franks energy drink

oops, damnit this has already been done--------GP 2008

Most tracks already have these in place

[whodey17]

Originally Posted by DaHoss9698

Is this the face you look at each night when you are down on your knees in front of your dad? Or is it the look you give to Zito. Speaking of Zito, I noticed he broke another one down today.

Dag nabit! I was hoping my Chuck E. Cheese post would go down as the most ridiculous post of the day.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by MISTERGEE

how bout this idea

1-make it so there is almost no where to sit to see racing live

2-treat everyone like crap

3-make the experience extremely uncomfortable

4-rip everyone off

5-serve plenty of Franks energy drink

oops, damnit this has already been done--------GP 2008

I still don't understand all the hate for GP. The racing definitely has taken a decided step down, which I predicted would happen when they hired the Thistledown secretary to card races (16k MCL's on the grass?!?) but the overall experience is a LOT better than say, Aqueduct. It's beautiful, clean, has plenty of places to wager, and good food and drink. The prices are normal, not extrodinary as you seem to claim. Talk about no places to sit, have you ever been to Del Mar? (one of the best racetracks in the world?)

If I lived in South Florida I would have gone to the track today. Since I live in New York, and Aqueduct is still running, I didn't, and played from home. That's a problem that should be fixed... and I'm the kind of guy you want at the track any time you can get me there.

Originally Posted by Split Rock

I think what is really hurting the racing industry is a few things:

1) Interest in horse racing has waned over the years for a variety of reasons:
a) More gambling options
b) Too difficult and time consuming to try and understand all the idiocyncracies of the game for a casual fan
c) Best horses retire right away and fans don't have a connection with any of the horses
d) Awful customer service at MOST (not all) tracks
e) Too much down time between races with nothing for the casual fan to do (ever tried to bring a date or a friend to the track. Not a very social event while you try and cap and strategize between races)

2) Corruption (lack of believability)

3) Lack of a governing body (until this happens competing interests will cause turmoil (case in point the internet wagering battle))

4) From a marketing standpoint, not understanding how to tap into the interests of non-horse players

5) From a marketing standpoint, not understanding who their core audience is (US). They need to present the product in the way we require. For example:
a) Odds changing during or after the race. Core fans don't like it and the perception is it is past posting. Fix it!
b) Closeups during the race. Core fans want to see their horses battling for the minor awards in the stretch. They do not need to see the color of the eyes of the winner crossing the wire. Fix it!
c) Will pays. Core fans want to know what they are set up to win with the final legs of pick 3's, pick 4's and pick 6's. Possibly even will pays for trifectas? Either way, Fix it!
d) Late scratches. This is awful for couplings and for middle or end legs of multi race wagering. Hard core fans don't even know what the rules are, do they get the post time favorite or a consolation pay? Fix it!
e) Inquiries and DQ's. Core fans want more transparency. Fix it!
f) Delays. Can the track at least inform their patrons what the delay is about and the approximate re-start? Case in point, Hawthorne yesterday. Talk about poor customer service. Fix it!

Anyway, could go on and on.....sorry if it sounds like ranting but until the people in control of this game start to have an agenda to "improve the product" and "attract all types of people" we will be stuck with a sub par game. Currently in appears to be run by wolves tearing apart a roting carcas.

Good post.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

I hardly think that Chef Tony and Billy Mays hawking their crap between races is paying the brunt of the bills...I would suspect that the networks (TVG/HRTV) exist to pimp their own AWD's and are additionally compensated by the tracks they cover. Maybe not...But the amount of revenue they recieve from your cable bill is inconsequencial. Offering the service free of charge is not as far off as one would think.

But then it's all circular. There is still a substantial amount of money floating around between the groups.

If you're saying that TVG doesn't need the revenue that they get from providing their signal to a cable company, then that answers my original question: TVG and HRTV pay for it.

Because you better believe that no cable company is going to pay for a channel and then give it away for free, nor should they. It's bad business because the cost of all of these channels gets passed on to the customer. That's exactly why the Big 10 Network has been such a royal pain in the ass, because they want an amount equal to every customer that exists in a cable footprint, even when every customer is not watching. No cable company is going to pass that on to their customers for a niche network that has a high operating cost...at least they shouldn't.

[Bobby Fischer]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

Who is investing?

this is important !


There is no investing in the league in part because there is no league.

There has to be some type of unified governing body for horse racing. Even something like the NBA or NFL has in place.


"horse racing" can't keep a cheater out of the game
we can't sell the sport to the masses via television
we can't clean up the game with the current structure.


With a better gov't and full scale use of mass media, horse racing could actually expand. Renovate and construct new venues. Double the handle and increase the player base five fold. They could afford to hire a few good actuarys and figure out how low the takeout/concessions/admission should be. Provide top class information to the players.