Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

TheFinalWord — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:27:48 GMT

Many folks seems to forget that the racing industry is the same as any other 'retail' business - they sell products (parking, programs, admissions, racing forms, food and beverage - and most of all 'bets').

Most retail businesses publish sales figures for public consumption - especially around holiday seasons - and the media routinely reports on sales comparision to infer how well markets are performing year over year or season over season.

This information should be provided to the media without question and in an electronic format.

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

Betty — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:24:32 GMT

The racing industry needs to be more transparent now than ever. The handle figures have always been made public and should continue to do so. The racing industry also needs to quit turning a blind eye to what happens to thoroughbred horses when they can't race anymore. Wake up folks: The horses deserve a portion of that purse money too.

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

wista — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:49:22 GMT

Reasoner: In situations such as these my mother, bless her gambling heart, always said ,"There is something they don't want you to know!" Given the current level of distrust by the average racing fan it doesn't sound like a smart move

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

berttheclock — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:20:02 GMT

With Calder's announcement of cutting eight stakes races and purses for other, Bay Meadows being sold to a developer, Magna trying to dump several of their tracks, are we not close to those days of '71 in Seattle, where the signs read "Will the last one leaving, please turn out the lights"? Seattle recovered; wish I could feel the same for horse racing.

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

James Mosher — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:03:16 GMT

Tim Capps hits it right on the head. So many in horse-racing don't want to deal with bad news until it hits them square in the face (and when that happens it's often too late to do anything but whine to the government).

Dan Liebman points to the fact that only the most diligent reporters will be able to marshal important facts. Some in horse-racing are counting on lazy reporters to overlook the big picture.

Slots are not boosting racing -- look it up. The number of foals is declining and there will be more shortages of horses as slots and table games proliferate.

Handle is down -- look it up. Yet racetracks and horsemen's unions are forming big conglomerates and raising simulcasting fees to casinos and OTBs. Wake up! Simulcasting is not the profit center of any casino. Cutting into casino simulcasting profit margins is a sure way to get casinos to shrink or eliminate their OTB facilities. Much more profitable for the casino to turn its race book into another slots room.

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

Reasoner — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:25:22 GMT

Aren't you really grumbling about your own laziness?

Charts these days are free to download from the internet. You admit clearly that you could, should you want to, tally those figures from charts.

Your stance would have been of mild importance 25 years ago when at the very least it might cost money to avail yourself of the needed data.

In this day and age, handle really doesn't mean a whole lot because various tracks have customarily counted the same dollar multiple times in handle reports.

The UNeducated public (the media included most of the time) takes these numbers to represent a direct gain or loss in business vs. the previous year.

First of all, the previous year is always random and means nothing. Secondly, any differences may result in how many times the same dollar is counted. Thirdly, because of the difference in takeout and revenue from various dollars, changes to the bottom line are NOT accurately reflected in handle fluctuations.

In closing, you should have listened to your mother when she told you: "if you want something done, do it yourself".

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

David — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:23:29 GMT

The good news is racing is a 15 billion dollar industry. The bad news it’s been a 15 billion dollar industry for the past 15 years. Amid no, or negative, growth it seems that those men behind the curtain feel that no message is the best message. The racing industry has suffered a major heart attach over the past few years and is walking about as if it’s still OK.

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

Richard R — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:05:56 GMT

It is typical for this industry to promulgate "good news" and to let "bad news" die on the vine. Management of "news" by Equibase and the racetracks has its roots in the mushroom theory of management. It is just one more example of the industry's indifference towards its customers while its product continues on the wane.

At the same time, since anyone vaguely familar with the business knows the direction in which its headed, the metrics are simply the devil in the details.

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

Tim Capps---University of Louisville — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:54:07 GMT

At a time when the racing industry's need for transparency has never been greater, we have yet another decision to restrain the availability of data that, among other things, gives everyone in racing a sense of the trend of the industry's business.

In reality, Equibase should be routinely providing aggregate figures on handle across North America to the trade journals and other media on a monthly basis, something that would be simple given the way the data is gathered and stored.

Attendance figures are spurious because so much wagering is now done off-track, but handle is the industry's "bottom line," and its trend lines are of vital interest to everyone and shouldn't be proprietary to anyone.

Your indignation is appropriate and widely shared.

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

STEVE STONE — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:12:12 GMT

Hello Dan..Yes..you are absolutely correct in stating that CDI..et al rationale for not disseminating not only their daily handle figures..but attendance numbers as well is totally absurd...Other eastern tracks including Philadelphia Park and Delaware Park also fall into this identical mentality..This folly is just another example of why racing is in the state its in..So diffused and disparate..They possess and have such misplaced priorities...I sincerely hope you prevail here and perhaps an in person meeting w/The Jockey Club and Churchill Downs hierarchy will yield some vital and essential progress...After all..we are not talking about National Security and Foreign Policy here...Thank you always Dan for the window... Kindest regards..Steve Stone..East Hanover..New Jersey..

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

Horse and Justice Lover — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:27:59 GMT

what's in it for the Jockey Club to NOT give Blood-Horse the figures. Please don't let this be a one and done column. Keep pounding on them. It's a disgrace.

re: Get a Handle - by Dan Liebman

OaktownABQ — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:07:21 GMT

Your comments are right on. I work as Electronic News Manager for the American Quarter Horse Racing Journal, and we still include handle and purse figures when we write meet wrap-ups.

The one thing I've noticed is that, almost always, handle and purse figures still closely parallel each other.

For example, if handle is down 5 percent, chances are the purses will also be down 5 percent or close to it -- even with tracks that have purse revenues from slots.