Jon
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Post by Jon on Aug 2, 2017 22:59:04 GMT -5
How do you feel about the US having more "Really Big Race days"?
There's Big Day Racing & Really Big Day Racing
PTP
noticed the Haskell card checked in yesterday with over $12M in handle, up around 7%. That's a pretty good number, and the race was excellent.
That $12M in handle, though, represents only a sliver of total handle for the Monmouth meet. It's that way with most big events in North America, outside the Derby I suppose.
Down in Australia, I noticed a figure or two which I found eye opening.
The Cox Plate, Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup races attracted over $1B in total handle last year, representing 44% of total handle for the entire meet.
The overall spring meet is good for betting customers - a field size of 10.9 with good pool size, as well as plenty of ways to play, like fixed odds and exchanges. But to have near half of the volume on the three big events is formidable.
I've often believed that mature gambling markets are a leading indicator for North American racing. Big days have been big in these markets for a long time. The US and Canada are catching up, but maybe there's a lot more upside to big day handle than we realize.
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qhwizard
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aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
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Post by qhwizard on Aug 2, 2017 23:58:16 GMT -5
BIG RACE DAYS SUCK AND THEY ARE BAD FOR THE OVERALL PRODUCT AND MEET. IVE EXPLAINED WHY MANY TIMES. NOT GOING TO DO IT AGAIN.
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Post by byanose13 on Aug 4, 2017 16:18:39 GMT -5
Not to belittle the Haskell but to call it a "Big Race Day" is a bit of an exaggeration. 12 Million is nothing to sneeze at but Churchill had 8 million bet on the Stephen Foster card and 139 million on the Derby alone and 207 million for the Derby card(15 races). While it is a great day of racing it is big in monmouth's eyes but fades in the stretch when compared to others like Travers, Pacific Classic, Derby and there was even 14 million bet on just the Oaks this year. Now it is true that the Derby fuels the rest of Churchill's meets but we are talking big race days and not meets.
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george
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Post by george on Aug 4, 2017 19:25:01 GMT -5
Monmouth Park in general and the Haskell in particular are a shadow of what they used to be, ever since the Governor embarked on a campaign to destroy them six or seven years ago. First he cancelled the casino purse subsidy. Then in 2010 he had the state DOT tear up the main road between Monmouth and the Garden State Parkway just before opening day, creating massive traffic jams. A 10-minute trip became about a 90-minute trip. The last time I was there was that season. I usually try to get to a track about an hour before first post time. I got there in time for the second race. Maybe it was a dry run for "Bridgegate"?
Shortly after that meet, he decided to close both Monmouth and the Meadowlands because they were losing propositions, never mentioning that he was instrumental in destroying Monmouth. Both wound up being leased to outside operating groups and have drastically cut back their seasons.
It's sad, because Monmouth Park is one of the most beautiful racetracks in the country.
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cait
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Post by cait on Aug 5, 2017 10:22:57 GMT -5
It truly is a shame re Monmouth. It's a beautiful track. Big racing days produce big handles. Like them or not, that's what matters. Think they're here to stay.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Aug 5, 2017 12:47:26 GMT -5
I like the "Super" days. Wiz - think the #'s say you're wrong.
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george
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Post by george on Aug 5, 2017 13:52:52 GMT -5
I have to agree with wiz (surprised?) I don't think the big days get as much of an increase in attendance and handle to make them worthwhile.
For example (although NYRA hasn't announced attendance for early days in the Saratoga meet yet), handle for opening Saturday was $24.9M. The following Saturday, their first big racing day, handle was $27.7M, only an increase of 10%. One wonders how much the other days of the week suffered because there were no "big" stakes races. Would that $2.7M have been bet anyway on the other five days of the week, only about a half million each day? On the other hand, would last week's Jim Dandy alone have attracted at least some of that $2.7M anyway?
I could see if there was an increase of 20% or more, but the incremental increase doesn't seem to be worth watering down the other days of the week.
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qhwizard
Active Member
aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
Posts: 765
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Post by qhwizard on Aug 6, 2017 1:20:38 GMT -5
exactly what George said. the "numbers" say the exact opposite jon when you add a little common sense and reasoning n with them. those big racing days are nothing more then just a waste of assets and purse money to attract the same crowds and handle they would have gotten without them.
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george
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Post by george on Aug 6, 2017 8:59:37 GMT -5
This is actually one of the reasons why NYRA doesn't aggressively pursue the Breeders' Cup anymore. The net gain is minimal, and not worth the disruption of their facility for a week or so. Somewhere I read a few years ago that the revenue that goes to NYRA isn't really much more than a typical Saturday in the fall.
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Post by byanose13 on Aug 6, 2017 14:41:22 GMT -5
George that is correct. When the BC is here at Churchill the BC "rents" the facility and reaps all the rewards as the ones really benefiting from it are the hotel owners and the taxi and uber drivers as Churchill gets little for the two days that the BC is here. It is all about image and being the host of the Breeders Cup.
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qhwizard
Active Member
aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
Posts: 765
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Post by qhwizard on Aug 6, 2017 17:29:01 GMT -5
in that sense its like hosting the Olympics. its why the u.s and specifically L.A should host the summer Olympics every other time at least. we are already prepared to do it. no major remodeling of the city or building of arenas that will never be used again is needed. the city doesn't need to go into bankruptcy just preparing for it, and then not even break even doing it.
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