ESPN Dropping More Horse Races

[PatCummings]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Horse racing has the unbelievable advantage of having its own network... times two! While HRTV is not quite as widespread as TVG, horse racing should be taking advantage of it. The prudent thing to do would be for the industry to buy TVG and then we'd have our own NFL or MLB network type setup...

Comparing the MLB and NFL to racing is so incredibly far-fetched, I don't know where to begin.

Even if some national racing entity bought TVG, how will that dramatically change anything?

I just don't believe that some stakes races without much context on ESPN does much of anything. I don't think it increases handle or a fan base that is going to wager. In previous years, they showed the Murmur Farms Maryland Starter Handicap. A $35,000 restricted overnight race. For what?

Hours and hours of live TV is dramatically expensive and while I cannot quantify it, my personal opinion is that it does relatively little to impact the national awareness of racing.

After several years of showing plenty of coverage on ESPN and its family of networks, if they've said - "the heck with it" - so be it.