Price Wars

re: Price Wars

Larry — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:06:12 GMT

The fact that there are only 8 comments 3 days after posting speaks volumes. And is most disconcerting. Any blog on who is the better filly will have over 100 comments in a matter of hours. If is not Mr. Waldrop's job to intervene, and I am not saying it is, just who's is it? Rhetorical question actually. And that, it seems to me is one of the major reasons the sport and the industry that lives off of it is in a state decline. Nick's comment; Racing recycles the same execs around the positions of importance and NOTHING EVER GETS DONE!

Sure seems to ring true when you have been in it as long as I have and look down the list of "Industry Leaders".

The following are some comments made by Utube viewers on the jockey's fight the other day at Philly Park;

Ugh horse racing. Glad it's dying. Shame what it has become. Did they give money back? hehe

Aaaa horse racings a joke now. This doesn't surprise me. 75% of it will be gone in 5 years.

racing no=No attendance,no handle,top horses retiring early,sky high takeouts,horrible customer service. Now fighting LOL. Was at Philly the other day. No one was there.

Where is racing's PR people?? If I were in charge I would have a whole department of people gleaming and producing great racing clips, people and horse stories posting them on Utube. So the great side of racing far out numbers the negative side. Have people follow important blogs and correct misinformation. Produce shows such as Jockeys and give them away if you have to. Seems to me that this is the new standard business model for any industry that wants to survive in the information driven age.

The tragic death of Eight Bells and Barbaro and the poor way in which it was handled by industry leaders has had a much larger and far reaching negative effect on the industry then the industry leaders anticipated.

re: Price Wars

Bob Hope — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:47:26 GMT

Track Net Media is a high priced, unnecessary bureucracy that is at the root of the problem. They only provide arrogant insulation for Churchill and Magna. They have compounded the problem that threatens small tracks.

{Edited For Content by Moderator}

re: Price Wars

RDM — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:45:23 GMT

Mr. Waldrop while you may not be able to force a settlement, you can keep pressure on the two sides by keeping it in the press. Explain to the fans exactly what is in dispute ($'s apart). Detail how much purse money horseman are losing each day. Implore the Racing Form to take a stance. Provide email addresses of the parties involved so Fans get express their opinions directly. WE need your leadership on this dispute. Any type of action is better than none.

re: Price Wars

MachoUno6789 — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:23:51 GMT

So, you got to wonder if the Tracknet Media group has offered to reciprocate the payment it seeks with the tracks in dispute by offering to pay the same percentages of handle? As it is, I live in the Mid-Atlantic region and have not seen or bet on a Gulfstream race so far this year or Fair Grounds race this past winter for the 1st time in about 15 years. I don't appreciate it as well as the thousands and thousands of other fans in the mid-atlantic region. If the dispute remains, surely racing and its industry will suffer another major loss in handle in 2010 due to this seeming act of piracy. Everybody wants more money and think they rightly deserve it. Racing has to remember that it has a growing list of competitors now and has done nothing to promote itself. Unlike 10-20 years ago when a Saturday afternoon of racing was the only gambling thing to do, now there are slot parlors, on-line gambling, and places looking to legalize table games. If Racing doesn't get its act together as a whole, AND in a hurry, the "Sport of Kings" may eventually end up as a distant memory or a side show in a circus. The fairest thing to do is have an impartial economist type group create a model that can be agreed upon and accepted by all and not allow one group who throws its weight around by blacking out its product at a time of year when it is really the only game in town. This act only hurts the entire game as a whole and everyone in the industry should be concerned.

re: Price Wars

Nick — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:32:20 GMT

I am saddened by the familiar rhetoric perpetuated by Mr Waldrop...same ol...same ol..."there is nothing we can do". Why then, are you taking the handsome sum your position demands?

YOU are in a position to make change. Grow yourself a spine and DO SOMETHING!!

Racing recycles the same execs around the positions of importance and NOTHING EVER GETS DONE!

If not you, Mr Alex Waldrop...who?

Really...who?

re: Price Wars

Bill — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:33:22 GMT

Alex,

Why not advocate for the fans right now and publicly call for independent arbitration. You respond to this problem by pointing to the cable TV industry but industry is thriving compared to horse racing. Need we remind you that the all sources handle for 2009 was the lowest in 12 years? Are you really just whistling on the Titantic? As the head of NTRA you really must publicly call for action. We need you to stop wringing your hands and I try to do something. We need you to call for arbitration now.

re: Price Wars

ArchieA — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:20:37 GMT

Great line from Daruty explaining why Tracknet is justified in raising the percentage it wants for each dollar wagered on their tracks.........

“We don’t think it’s appropriate to sell to Mid-Atlantic today at the same rate that was received five years ago,” Daruty said. “What product do you buy in your daily life that you’re paying the same today that you did five years ago?”

So using Daruty's logic.....at some point in time, Tracknet should be charging $1.00 for each $1.00 wagered on it's signals.

re: Price Wars

Cigar16 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:19:14 GMT

Racing think tank ideals often touch on the subject of the over saturation of racing.

I do not want to be of a volatile opinion but being a part of this industry for over 20 years I can say IMHO that the Mid Atlantic cooperative has no clout.

Horrible fields, poor stakes schedules, and the inability to draw high level horses leave their product high and dry. Why? Because places where the character of class racing exists is where the HORSES and competition are held in the highest esteem.

Not where slot machines are GOD, not where whining horseman and stingy track management squabbling every other week is the norm, and not where cranky, know little about racing OTB people in attendance cannot get a program or a drink past 6pm.

Quite frankly off the top of my head,(Monmouth not included)RACING (not the employment loss factor) for the future can definitely do WITHOUT any of the Mid Atlantic tracks in their current and most likely permanent state, and suffer no ill effects.

It would actually benefit the pools and infrastructure at race tracks such as Keeneland and the such where racing at its finest THRIVE.

re: Price Wars

David — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:03:25 GMT

Why not allow the simulcast to continue to the OTB's, other distribution channels, etc., and collect all generated fees in an escrow or holding account, to be apportioned to the parties by an independent arbitrator? That way the fan doesn't lose the opportunity to bet his or her favorite track and the tracks, horsemen's groups, and remote betting facilities do not lose 100% of the fees otherwise generated by allowing the bets.