I do agree with you that Racing's image needs some serious help these days.   But, I also think that the only way to truely improve Racing's image is by imploding all of the old, cheap tracks that give racing it's "Bad" image.   And then rebuilding brand new ones with the same beauty as a Keeneland, Del Mar and Saratoga.

In today's world if your not "Continuously" improving and upgrading your product, then your dying.

I think the economy will do that for you.  A bad economy will force a lot of states to stop subsidizing a money losing endeavour, and if a track can't prove it's helping green spaces, or contributing to the community, it will be in trouble.  Good point, thanks for reading!

An image overhaul is definitely in order.

Issues of steroids, safety and slaughter need to be resolved so that new fans can focus on the athletes.

Here's hoping that if next year brings a triple crown candidate, the only story will be the horse.

<a href="http://tripledeadheat.blogspot.com" target="new">TripleDeadHeat</a>

The suggestion that gambling "doesn't sell" in this country is absurd. Sports betting may only be allowed in 4 states by federal law and taking place only in Nevada at this time, but there is no shortage of gambling messages encouraging one to play. I spend winters in Miami and there are billboards all along I-95 now promoting slots at the Indian casinos and pari-mutuel facilities and table games at the former. And there must be a dozen gambling magazines on the newsstands filled with ads promoting games of chance and skill. If the racing industry wants to increase handle, it needs to stop preaching to the choir through DRF and trade pubs and reach out to the folks who are waiting in line for a seat at the Hard Rock poker tables. These folks have disposable income and don't mind risking it. And there's no shortage of them, either.

This country LOVES gambling, look at all th Bingo, Lotto, texas hold Em, Las vegas, atlantic city, yadeyada...

What they don't like is watching horses get whipped to run, the perception of drugs and cheating and the perception the horses are commodities, and they do not like watching them die in front of their eyes.

This is what i'm told by family and friends who won't even watch on TV with me any more, never mind go to an actual race..they have zero interest any more.

Gambling is technically illegal in Japan. Yet they have the the largest handle in the world.

Every year or two they change their marketing style. Right now it is 'Club Keiba' (Keiba is the Japanese word for horse racing). They are making it seem like a cool thing to be a part of. Basically, a club you want to be apart of and one anyone can be apart of. Posters everywhere, TV spots promoting races and or just the sport in general.

I have a friend who lives in LA, and until I came to visit her, she didn't know there WAS a racetrack in LA. She had never heard of Santa Anita Park, Hollywood Park, Or Del Mar. My friend in Portland, has never heard of Portland Meadows. My friend in Seattle, had never heard of Emerald Downs, till I took him there. All of them loved the track once they knew it existed.

It isn't just about getting a good image out there... in some places we just need AN image.

Sure, there will always be people who are oblivious. But an American friend of mine has moved to Ireland. And she learned very very quickly about the Irish racing circuit and she doesn't even like the sport, but is surrounded by it. I don't know how they market things there, but she learned about it without trying. That is what we should aim for.

You are right on, regarding imgage.  As there are two athletes involved in horse racing (horse and jockey) and one doesn't stay around long enough to build an image, the jockeys should be the center of a marketing focus.  There are a couple of logical candidates (Chantal, Channing, GoGo) and they are pretty colorful characters...a couple of colorful national ad campaigns around them would be a good start.

A racetracks image is as only as good as the community that surrounds it. Both financhially and by its integrity.

I think that you have a point. I remember as a kid going to the track at Belmont and seeing limos dropping folks off at the clubhouse. The clubhouse was always elegant and clean. Now when I have gone to some of the second and third tier tracks, it seems like you'd have a hard time finding anyone with all their teeth. (not being an elitist, because I am there also - despite the problems I still enjoy the sport)

Unless it's a major race like the Derby or a track like Saratoga or Del mar, the crowd is not exactly "upscale" any more.

I don't have any answers but this image has to change before the sport can grow.

If the biggest viewer sport in the USA has only 32 teams(and they arrived at that very carefully), why does horse racing think it can have 100 tracks?

 Every move this industry makes is wrong. Yes, I mean flat out wrong. The talent in this industry in terms of promotion and development is very weak(just as the US car industry is weak in crucial areas) The latest is the Breeders Cup expansion...there is no argument...it is too big and does the opposite of what needs to be done.

If you want to compare Horse racing to something, then it should be to Boxing. Too many champions, organizations, and promoters. No central league. Lack of stars who stay around. Mis-understanding of the sport. Increased competition from other sources, bad image, crooked leadership.

 Horse racing needs a complete outsider to come in and teach the industry about the modern world. And the industry needs to actually listen.

I agree wholeheartly! The industry needs to focus on the entertainment and sporting aspects of horse racing.  I have a couple of suggestions:

1) Implement a point system for each division (see Bloodhorse opinion, www.bloodhorse.com/.../crowning-champions)

2) Sell admission packages at the tracks. These can include seats, discount food offers, vouchers for wagers, etc.  Racing fans might purchase a package for $50 each - pricing on-par with other major sporting events.  They can then watch and wager.  More importantly they can have a good time without feeling like they have lost money - they just paid admission.

3) Improve the food service.  At our Southern California tracks, there are always lines despite the poor selection.  I and I'm sure many others forgo food purchases because we would rather watch racing than stand in line.  If they increased the number of food service vendors and expanded the offering, they could double their sales.

It's a great sport, we just need to market it better.

Bill

Bravo!

As for the comment.. How many people are put out of jobs? for how long? What do we do with all of the horses stabled at the tracks? What do trainers do, where do they enter? and Who pays for it? if roads were paved with gold and light poles of gum drops then that idea might work. the improvments listed above ( last paragraph) equal more income for tracks, cheap or not. which gets put back into purses and yes hopefully some much needed renovations.

There's something big missing from the list at the end: horses. Horses are the heroes of racing. They are true athletic heroes who cannot be blamed for gambling, drugs or any sleaze associated with Racing.

The biggest emotional responses to Racing have been about a horse: Barbaro, Big Brown, Eight Belles. Sports heroes are a major component of the really popular sports and kids read Black Beauty and The Black Stallion. Racing needs to emphasize horses more.

It may have no application for horses however the fact that steroids reduce bone mass in humans is something that should be investigated as per horses. I personally do not believe that track surface has much to do with it but drugs and inbreeding weakness does. How about breeding for heavier and stronger bones.  The sport is committing suicide in the quest for speed.

Of course horse racing is gambling.  If there were no wagering on football, baseball, etc., the sports would still survive and be profitable.  If there were no wagering on horse racing, how would the sport survive? Where would the money come from?

Horse racing depends on gambling, but you wouldn't know it from the ESPN broadcasts.  Rather than pretending otherwise, better to actually include the gambling connection- give the viewer some clue of how to read a racing form, etc.   Make the gambling as entertaining as the race-gambling is supposed to be fun.

@W. Keith please check out the TBA homepage.  We use standings to determine our winners.  tbablogs.com

@Nicole - ESPN has hammerin hank who is the absolute worst image racing can put out there, he's a the stereotype enforcing a bad image, but taht's ESPN's decision not racings.

@bridgitte - notice the hoses you mention all come from the Triple Crown races.  There's a reason that our sport is only in the public conscience every so often.  When the good image outweighs the bad.  The TC is bigger than the early daily double at Aqueduct.

@Edward - I fear you are more right than wrong. the comparison to boxing is stark.  Who will be our UFC?

Crystal - that community comment is very strong, i was a member that went out to Las Vegas to talk to the industry, and we all said to increase their community activities and help those around them.  

Get rid of:

- the claim game (rarely good for the equine athlete)

- the whip, while racing

- anything not hay, oats or water

- agents, brokers and all others that make a commission without actually adding to the value and / or situation; you know who you are.

- breeders who breed too much, trainers who train too much, vets who vet too much, pinhookers who pinhook too much; you get the idea.

- acceptance of routine breakdowns

Go ahead....and rip me a new one.

For the person whose friend moved to Ireland;

the sport is so big here because Ireland is rural in most places and that means there will be horses. Ireland is the land of horses. Over here, horse racing is televised and advertised a lot too as a social event. The two biggest factors though is the fact that National Hunt racing (racing over jumps) is massively popular. National Hunt horses race for years, often to the age of 12, so people can follow their career. People hear about Aidan O Brien on the news and in the papers. Its well marketed. And, thankfully, PETA and similar groups have little influence here. Even people who know nothing about horses and wouldn't have a clue who Aidan O Brien is still go to the races as a social thing.

That's why its so big and I just wish American racing was the same because I like it too.

I thought Frank Stronach was going to do something with some of his concepts, but that doesn't seemed to have panned out.

I don't know the validity of any of my ideas but I'd have a nice atmosphere built around the horse. Horses can sell themselves.

I'd combine it with some other multi-purpose facilities like a water park, small shopping center, walking trails, educational center or the like -- something of community value.

I'd have a riding center with ponies and horses for kids and families. There would be educational options to learn about horses. There would be track and stable jobs open to young people needing to build a resume.

There would be some top race horses retired to every track to be ambassadors for the sport. Some would be like Da Hoss or The Wicked North who could double as the family dog. Others would seduce you in with their Rags to ?Riches' type personalities.  

Perhaps there could be a small rescue organization where someone might even find a family horse. Tie it the State College Vet program and create something special.

I'd have some of the racehorses who could handle it be most visible to the public as appropriate. I'd have trainers talk to classes and/or groups about what they do and how. I'd emphasize the horsemanship involved in working with these equine athletes.

I could go on and on, but I'm sure there is at least one good idea here. The basic idea is to build a series of facilities to attract people; have a facility that is nice as you can make it on your budget; offer something of value to the community; and let the horses sell the horses.