Todd Shrupp and TVG

[Rudeboyelvis]

Originally Posted by Left Bank

TVG is trying to compare it to Oaklawn this year,because they televise Oaklawn this year. The numbers were around 5 mil for Tampa,compared to approx 5.5 mil for Oaklawn.TVG attributes this to their coverage. I think they are reaching.

It's incomparable. Shrupp is just towing the company line - I'm sure they're pissed they've lost revenue do to the signal impasse, but the reality is that it most likely is not a major factor in the downturn. Andy Beyer wrote a piece a few weeks back where he pointed out a few negatives; field size, and Jamie Ness. The fact that Ness had been winning at the same percentage for years seemed to had been forgotten, and I took issue with that - but the reality is that even with the continued take out reductions, players prefer fuller fields and especially the last few weeks of the meet the lack of field size has become more evident.
I can say that as a trackside regular, the on track attendance is noticeably down, but that has been attributed to the warmer winter up north, and I can tell you for certain that whether it's the economy or the weather, the amount of winter visitors is down all over - not just the track.
The silver lining is that the majority of players that concentrate on Tampa have not gone anywhere, and the .50 P5 has been an overwhelming success thus far with regard to the 2.00 P6 it replaced.
Berube and his team do an exceptional job putting on a great competitive product, and that hasn't changed.