Sportsman Park racing 70's and 80's

[race track phil]

        Who was responsible for the great racing at SPK in the 70's and 80's ?

        How come the racetracks cant get racing back to what it used to be like in those days ?   I just dont understand really what happened and why no one can fix the problem at least to some degree !  The tracks still handle pretty could even though the boats took away a lot of bettors and the lotto gets a lot of action . How about getting whoever was responsible for marketing poker to the public and hiring them to get racing going again .

                                           RTP

[njhorseman]

Phil:

Check out this weeks edition of Andrew Cohen's "Wire To Wire" column on harnessracing.com:

http://www.harnessracing.com/wire_to_wire.php

Look about halfway down for the line "POKER!! WOMEN!! HORSE RACING!!"

[NIATROSS]

While I will state upfront that there is nothing better than being live for any event from horse racing to a concert we are looking at this the wrong way in my opinion.Everyone needs to stop saying how bad things are ans start selling the advantages horse racing has over other gambling options.Figures released annually show a small or stagnant growth in wagering every year on the t-breds(cannot find any on the harness).These figures do not include all the money being wagered off-shore and the like that does NOT help the industry at all.In today's market you need to give the people what they want when they want it in the best possible way.Why do people need more than 1 provider to bet on-line ? Why is the take-out over 30% on some gimmick wagers at certain tracks when it is a proven fact when the take-out is lowered the handle goes up ? There is also more racing now then there was years ago and the product is not any better.Any decent horse is sent to stud after his 3 yo year.I lost some of my interest in COLLEGE AND NBA basketball after freshmen started baling out  and joining the pros.I did not know who anyone was so why watch it ? IMO there are way too many people only concerned for their own welfare instead of what is good for the sport.Track owners should be partners but are not.Racing over the years provided plenty of tax revenue to all forms of GOVT yet is taken advantage of compared to other industries.In the middle of this the BETTOR has been forgotten and taken his business elsewhere,where he isn't paying OVERBLOWN prices for everything and being taken care of because without them there is no racing except in DUBAI.Running a business in the real world is different from when racing had A  MONOPOLY.

[race track phil]

     Niatross ,


             Good post !         RTP

[MercedesMan]

Racing died when Regan did away with the tax cuts for tracks horsemen and its owners. Untill the horsmens tax cuts come back for the tracks and the owners and horsemen it may never come back Phil ..

[Mel from Moline]

There'sa simple reason why, MONEY. Money was easy to come by then. Especially in the 70's.I mean look at how many guys were big time involved and shortly after things tightened up they were nowhere fast. People could work a job and still have a life. Not so much now.

[bowserkat]

Those glory days are gone forever.  It's not just competition from Poker or casinos.  Society as a whole has changed and the entertainment of years gone by will never get its old luster back.   It is not the fault of horsemen, track owners, breeders or anyone else. There will always be fans of harness racing, but the days of crowds of 8,000 at the track on a weekday night are gone.  Who has more fans?  Harness racing or lacross?

[NIATROSS]

Those glory days are gone forever.  It's not just competition from Poker or casinos.  Society as a whole has changed and the entertainment of years gone by will never get its old luster back.   It is not the fault of horsemen, track owners, breeders or anyone else. There will always be fans of harness racing, but the days of crowds of 8,000 at the track on a weekday night are gone.  Who has more fans?  Harness racing or lacross?

I disagree with the no fault part.Why do people bet on harness racing in Il without putting THE BET thru the IL SYSTEM ? IMO and I am one whoi has been doing it for years,you get a better deal betting elsewhere or online than betting live on racing in IL.PEOPLE at an OTB IN INDIANA get a better mutual price on BALMORAL than the people live at the track.Whose fault is that ? The tracks have to take some of the blame for creating the problems that drive bettors elsewhere.

[burton]

As a business model racing had zero competition in the 70-80's.
No casinos, otb's etc;
To gamble on anything else you had to go to Vegas or Atlantic City.
As things changed the business did not respond.
The deals set favored the owners.
The horsemen I'm sorry to say did not have representatives who could look into the possiblities and changing landscapes of the future.
Racinos have come and have been nothing more than a band aid.
Is it too late?
I'm afraid so.
I think there will be only a handfull of tracks in the future which is all the limited fan base can support.