In the Southland, meanwhile, the total cost of bringing back the Super Bowl for the first time since 1993 has topped $6 billion.

It cost $5 billion for Kroenke to build Sofi Stadium; $550 million paid by Kroenke as a relocation fee and $790 million for the Rams and the NFL to settle the St. Louis lawsuit.

How much of that $6.34 billion ultimately will be paid by Kroenke is uncertain. He and the NFL have yet to agree how to divide the $790-million settlement. In terms of the stadium, according to their relocation application to the NFL, the Rams said Kroenke would “invest over $800 million in equity in the project and has the ability to service the debt on the facility.”

Los Angeles Times – Shaikin – NFL and Rams agree to $790-million settlement with St. Louis over relocation

Sometime Around Midnight

The Washington Post – Athitakis – From cult to Stanford to stardom: ‘Hollywood Park’ traces an indie rocker’s tumultuous path

Hollywood Park is one of the 40 US tracks that Horse Racing Wrongs claims were shuttered since Y2k. Between building a stadium, the relocation fee and the settlement the Los Angeles Rams will spend over $6.34 k³ for moving from St. Louis and their new digs where Hollywood Park once raced thoroughbreds. While the OTB located in the rebuilt Hollywood Park casino contributes to horse racing in California 0³% of the revenues from the rebuilt Hollywood Park casino go to horse racing in California.

Now you may ask yourself: well, how did Phil get here: off on some cotangent talking NFL in a horse racing blog.

And you may say to yourself: not the same as it ever was as the NFL has supplanted baseball, boxing and horse racing as the No. 1 sport in the US and it’s not even close.

I never explain anything.

Mary Poppins

Brady and Mahones may be household names, even though the latter still has his Sideshow Bob do, but ask any American about Jose Ortiz or John Velazquez and they think your talking about a couple of Cesar Chavez’ buddies.

Rodgers and Mahones can get an answer for your insurance questions and many NBA players have lucrative shoe deals but you don’t see anyone lining up for Rosario or Prat boots or Essential Quality or Knicks Go (Durant’s a different kind of Knick) shoes.

The NFL led by their fascist commish is so powerful that virtually none of the sports media say a discouraging word about the NFL and most of the rest of the fourth estate follow suit like lackey dogs. The Jon Gruden lawsuit and the NFL’s failure to publish the findings of the Washington Football club workplace harassment suit should be front sports page news, but there’s very little mention of either.

Too bad as Gruden’s hired himself a law firm that Baffert may be adding to his arsenal.

Sporting News – Sutelan – Jon Gruden’s lawsuit against the NFL, Roger Goodell, explained

In contrast to the formalities of the Washington Football Team investigation, Defendants’ treatment of Gruden was a Soviet-style character assassination.

Jon Gruden lawsuit against NFL and Roger Goodell

Very easy to explain Jon Gruden’s lawsuit: make it uncomfortable for the Commish and the NFL owners and see how much you can squeeze to remain silent.

Money For Nothing

Phil has a question:

Do you believe that in 650,000 e-mails only Jon Gruden exhibited misogyny, racism, homophobia and / or countless other intolerable intolerances.

THe Guardian – Wood – Robbie Dunne admits to acting in ‘violent manner’ towards Bryony Frost

Goodell and the NFL have managed to keep the lid on and gloss over most of the major controversies facing the NFL. Lance Armstrong has been exiled from cycling, but the NFL’s Monday Night Football crew is led by Peyton Manning whose wife ordered copious amounts on HGH that Peyton claims were for her and the only news agency willing to take him to task is Al Jazeera followed by the Washington Post.

The North America sports media were on MLB and the NHL like ugly on a gorilla over the Trevor Bauer and Kyle Beach incidents, but not even closely as aggressive on the Deshaun Watson sexual assault suits, Washington Football Club employee harassment, Robert Kraft rub and tug fiasco, racial profiling in the NFL concussion settlement et cetera and we all know how the sports media love to milk a story as long as it can.

TSN – Westhead – Beach ‘courageous’, says mother of high school player assaulted by Aldrich

This weekend marks the first of the 2022 Kentucky Derby future pools, but instead of positive promotion CDI and Baffert are busy angrily and publicly airing their grievances to the detriment of the sport of horse racing.

The Stronach Group, NYRA and CDI claim to be trying to clean up the sport of thoroughbred racing, but their efforts are ill conceived as they magnify the problems in the public’s eyes turning more people away from the sport than they’re attracting.

Paulick Report – With Baffert Horses Omitted From List, ‘All Others’ Likely Favorite In Derby Future Wager Pool 1

TDN – Letter to the Editor: John Sikura

Roger Goodell and his NFL cronies may be a bunch of thug bullies, but their tactics not only keep the NFL at the top of the sports and sports betting food chains, they make it near impossible to compete with them.

CFL – Arkells welcome The Lumineers as special guests at 108th Grey Cup

As sports betting is accepted in more and more US states and Canadian provinces and sports become easier to bet on sports betting will slowly but surely eclipse the handle on horse racing and just as surely start to eat into the horse racing handle. Any kid who grows up watching sports on TV or on any other device can be easily converted into a sports bettor, but you’ve got to educate the new horse racing fans and there’s not many kids out there watching horse racing.

Sports Betting Dime – Duff – BC Hits Sports Betting Milestone, Paving Path for More Sportsbooks

$25,000,000 bet over the first 2 months. $150,000,000 extrapolated over a year even assuming no growth. The horse racing Handle in both Alberta and BC have been eclipsed by sports betting in BC and sports betting hasn’t hit the quarter pole yet.

When betting on esports becomes more commonplace the kids who grew up playing video games including Madden don’t have to be educated about betting esports.

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

Phil has a question:

How many kids are asking Santa for horse racing video games for Christmas.

Any person who knows how to push a button can play a slot machine or VLT, but you’ve got to educate the new horse racing fans.

Click on any of the major sports websites and horse racing isn’t on the header if the site even has horse racing.

ESPN

If Karl Marx were alive today he’d comment that in the US football is the opiate of the masses.

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.

Groucho Marx

Now you may ask yourself: why is Phil taking such a long and winding road to get to his topic.

I Don’t Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)

Birds scream at the top of their lungs in horrified hellish rage every morning at daybreak to warn us all of the truth, but sadly we don’t speak bird.

Kurt Cobain

That’s The Way I Like It

Phil has a question:

Do you know what question Phil was going to ask.

Sports Illustrated – Lyons – Lane Kiffin on Actions Late in Egg Bowl: ‘I Probably Shouldn’t Have Done That’

National Post – Godfrey – That night in small-city Ontario that Phil Collins became a frontman

In The Air Tonight

Solsbury Hill

Phil has a question:

Does Phil put in some items just to lead into a song or a quote.

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

Dr. Seuss

The NFL’s big day of the week is Sunday, followed by Monday Night Football and the recent excursion into Thursday Night Football; College Football’s big day of the week is Saturday, the NFL and Colleges don’t compete head to head and the NFL only moves to Saturdays when the College season is done, but horse racing can’t get the tracks to synchronize their post times to benefit the betting public with the jiggies being the worst offenders as they don’t understand that they’re the minor leagues of horse racing.

Ramblin Man

ESPN – Rogers -Everything you need to know about MLB’s lockout

The sports market across North America still has a some areas for growth, with sports betting leading the way, but is rapidly approaching what economists would call a mature market. And it’s not just the same old players vying for the dollar. Women’s sports have burgeoned the last few years, sports like curling and golf are becoming more mainstream and you can even watch people sit around and play poker.

Curling and golf are Taylor made for sports betting as there’s a new bet every end and hole and on every shot.

Statista – Total revenue of all National Football League teams from 2001 to 2020

Growth of revenues going to come from?

Expansion fees – the NHL has recently increased their revenue through the expansion of the Vegas Golden Knights, which accounted for $500 million to their coffers. The owners swung a good deal as they did not need to count it is Hockey Related Revenue – this means they didn’t need to share it with the players.

Anyway, Vegas has increased the revenue of year-to-year with merchandise sales, local tv, ticket sales (I hear it is amazing to attend a game their, and the players already love playing their).

The NHL is going to do this again with Seattle, who enter the league in 2021-22. The expansion fee was $650 million and Seattle has already sold all of its season tickets and has a waiting list. There is more money coming to league operations.

Gambling – Any U.S. State can now offer legalized sports betting. All have taken different approaches and some are still considering their offers, however the NHL is definitely partnering in the roll out. This could be a potential cash cow as the NHL looks to get a slice of the revenue of people betting on it’s games.

TV Revenue Growth – the biggest jump in NHL revenue will be the renegotiation of the U.S. national television deal. The $200 million/year they got from NBC is a rounding error when compared to the NFL, MLB and the NBA. I am not suggesting that the NHL will get anywhere near those leagues deals, but they will get a substantial raise.

The league has continued to increase viewership with Game 7 of the Boston – Blues series at 9 million was the highest ever for a game. People who tend to watch and go to NHL games have a higher than average income, and sports tv contracts continue to rise. All of this points to good things for the NHL when their U.S. tv contract with NBC sports comes due.

Watch for ESPN and Fox get back in the fight, but I think a combination of NBC Sports and ESPN will take home the rights.

Increased game day revenue – this means an increase in ticket costs. I always wonder how much they can keep on raising prices, but they do. NHL teams are always looking at ways to increase sales in-house whether that is from more luxury boxes, restaurants, or special game experiences such as behind the scenes tours.

For example, I once got to go on the ice after a preseason game and get a picture with a few Flames players. This cost extra to the price of the ticket!

Hockey Answered – What is the yearly revenue of the NHL? (plus, where it comes from)

Sportsnet – Friedman – NHL will be aggressive in trying new initiatives amid hunt to grow revenues

Phil has a question:

When’s the last time you saw a fan at a sports bar or on their own couch wearing a hockey, baseball, basketball, football (both kinds) or other team jersey.

When’s the last time you saw a fan at an OTB wearing a team silks.

Twist and Shout

Phil has a question:

What’s the Number.

To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.

Edmund Burke

Sportsnet – Fox – Auston Matthews raises enough money to shave moustache

Somebody to Love

There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we’d all love one another.

Frank Zappa

ESPN – Wyshynski – We watched the New York Islanders’ opener at UBS Arena from all 17 bars

Phil has a question:

How soon before there’s a sportsbook in UBS Arena.

Bittern Southerner – Peisner – Michael Stipe Is Present

Losing My Religion

The Jockey Club – Pari-Mutuel Handle

Even in a tough competitive sports market the revenues for the NFL and NHL have grown over the last decade, but the handle for thoroughbred racing’s flatter than Wile E. Coyote after meeting the Acme Anvil.

The only growth that thoroughbred racing has shown is the percentage of purses now coming from slot, Historic Racing or other gaming revenues.

Phil may have taken a couple of potshots at Commish Goodell today and other major sports commissioners in past posts, but the the major sports leagues have a similar structure. They are a group of private businesses joined in a association with a common goal of making money in the sports entertainment business usually led by a commish. The NCAA oversees US college sports including those that are organized into leagues like the Big 12, SEC, ACC . The college sports leagues and bodies may be organized along different lines, but they have still are more unified than thoroughbred racing.

With the passing of HISA in the US many are calling for a commissioner of thoroughbred racing in the US. But who would the Commish represent: the thoroughbred owners, the track owners, the trainers, the jockeys, the backstretch workers, the horses or God forbid the breeders. Who would pay the Commish. How would you ever define common goals for the disparate groups and who is up to the task of organizing the disparate groups.

How would you get the big three in thoroughbred racing, NYRA, CDI and the Stronach group to agree to give up some power to a Commish, when bottom line of their corporations and the Commish’s goals may not align. What about all the other gaming corporations that operate race tracks merely as a front to qualify for slots or other gaming licenses. What about all the government and quasi-government tracks. How much power would you give to the small tracks. And Phil’s only just begun to discuss the problems in trying to organize the track owners, let alone the myriad other disparate horse racing entities.

TDN – Letter to the Editor: Hold On, The Ride is About to Begin

Paulick Report – Majority Of Former Calder Race Course Acreage To Be Sold; Churchill Keeping Casino

Bloodhorse – Angst – CDI Sells Arlington Property to Chicago Bears

CNC Saskatoon – Zakreski – Sudden end of Marquis Downs spotlights the quiet power of Prairieland Park Corporation

The decoupling bill likely will end live racing at South Florida’s Pompano Park, the state’s only harness track that opened in 1964 and is now known as Isle Casino Pompano, a Caesars Entertainment property. A last-minute amendment in the Florida House version of the bill to exempt harness racing from the decoupling law was stripped in the final version that passed the Senate by a 39-0 vote and the House in a 73-43 vote.

HarnessLink.com reports that Joe Morris, VP of racing at Pompano, said there will be one more season of racing at Pompano, as Caesars had previously promised. If decoupling had not passed, the company was ready to pair its casino with a dormant jai alai permit it had acquired and end harness racing that way.

Paulick Report – Paulick – Florida Legislature Hands Sports Betting To Seminoles, Permits Non-Thoroughbred Tracks To Decouple From Gaming

Phil has a question:

If given the opportunity to decouple from horse racing how many heartbeats would it take the Alberta track operators to do so.

All things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man. The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

Chief Seattle

And you may say to yourself: not the same as it ever was as thoroughbred racing faces exponentially increased competition for the sports entertainment and sports betting and gambling dollar.

And you may say to yourself: not the same as it ever was as not only are the sports and sports (including horse racing) betting markets tough and competitive, horse racing also faces organizations dedicated to shutting it down.

PETA – The Horseracing Industry: Drugs, Deception and Death

HorseRaceDeathWatch

HorseRacingKills

HorseRacingWrongs

UCLA – Hewitt – The truth about cats’ and dogs’ environmental impact

Hobby Farm – Goats as Companions: Why You Might Consider It

Phil has a question:

What other pet can protect you from trolls.

Why Many Americans Underestimate Who Is Most Concerned About The Environment

AlJazeera – Kosher and Halal bans: Fur-washing factory farming’s brutality

Past The Wire – We’re killing horses and our sport, the sad fate of Mox Nix

TDN – Thornton – Cluster of Deaths At Laurel Puts Maryland Racing In Limbo

Will horse racing be damaged by this?

The most likely answer is yes. The sport is constantly the subject of speculation as to how honest it is, especially by those who bet on it. It didn’t help when trainers Jason Servis, who conditioned Maximum Security, Jorge Navarro and 25 others were federally indicted in 2020 for various crimes including doping of their horses. Navarro has pleaded guilty, while Servis continues to fight the charges. The spike in deaths at Santa Anita in 2019 was the catalyst for increased scrutiny from outside the business and reform from within. While deaths have been greatly reduced in Southern California, thanks to measures by the CHRB and the Stronach Group, horses keep dying. This month, Laurel Race Track in Maryland has temporarily shut down after seven horses died in a short period of time. Regardless of the results of the Medina Spirit necropsy, and regardless of if there should be any blame, the temperature will be raised on the industry to keep horses from dying. How the sport will survive that, especially with other betting opportunities such as sports gambling, remains to be seen.

Los Angeles Times – Cherwa – Six things to know about death of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit

NY Post – Opinion – Callahan – Medina Spirit’s shocking death is yet another reason we should end horse racing

Paulick Report – The Comments Section: Medina Spirit ‘Was The Victim Of It All’

The coverage in the Washington Post, which has been highly critical of the sport, of Medina Spirit’s death was straightforward, but the story evoked a strong response from readers. As of Tuesday afternoon, 616 comments on the story were posted online, and the overwhelming majority of them were unforgiving toward a sport that is clearly dealing with serious public perception problems.

…

But plenty of Journal readers took the sport to task.

“Inhumane sport… needs to be banned,” wrote srikanth iyer. “The enormous amount of money spent to sustain this ludicrous business can be better spent elsewhere.”

TDN – Bill Finley – Medina Spirit: The Public, Mainstream Media Reacts

Horse Race Insider – Pricci – IN THE WAKE OF MEDINA SPIRIT’S DEATH, WILL THE PUBLIC CANCEL THOROUGHBRED RACING?

Perceptions about the treatment and rights of animals have changed drastically over the last few decades and horse racing has become an easily targeted whipping boy for the animal activists. Drugs, violence, misogyny, racism, homophobia, bullying, toxic workplaces negatively affect all sports and sports organizations. However, when humans compete they have a choice to accept the negatives, but horses don’t have a choice whether they accept the drugs, violence and living conditions.

Dancer

Kindness and compassion towards all living things is a mark of a civilized society. Conversely, cruelty, whether it is directed against human beings or against animals, is not the exclusive province of any one culture or community of people.

Cesar Chavez

Now you may ask yourself: well, now that we got here is thoroughbred racing doing enough.

And you may say to yourself: same as it’s ever been.

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.

Aldous Huxley

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Gilligan – Voodoo, tragedy and a match that went down in legend – the vibrant history of racing in New Orleans

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Silver – A century of excellence: Racing’s debt to the legacies of two great visionaries

‘Remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation.

Tony Soprano

TDN – Ross – What Will HISA Look Like?

TDN – Letter to the Editor: Hold On, The Ride is About to Begin

Bloodhorse – Precious – NY Gov. Hochul Signs into Law Horse Welfare Legislation

TDN – McGrath – This Side Up: Another Fine Messier

Paulick Report – Paulick – Indiana Grand’s Leading Quarter Horse Jockey Faces 20-Year Ban For Alleged Use Of Electrical Device

Phil has a question:

Will Randy Smith get 40 years.

Bloodhorse – Roberts Communications to Offer Streaming of Symposium

Paulick Report – French Prize Money Increased For 2022; Returns To 2017 Levels

Paulick Report – New York Senator Introduces Bill To Allow Fixed-Odds Wagering On Racing

Horse Race Insider – Irwin – INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES KEY TO SUCCESS OF HORSE RACING INTEGRITY AND SAFETY ACT

Paulick Report – Williams – New York State Gaming Commission: Paulick Commentary On Lack Of Medication Positives At NYRA Tracks Purposefully Misleading

Bloodhorse – Angst – Kentucky Lawmaker: It’s Time to Support Horseplayers

TDN – Bobby Flay Talks Breeders Cup Triumph On Writer’s Room

The Man Who Sold The World

It takes a long time to dissolve the bars of a mental cage.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Bloodhorse – New York Advances Mobile Sports Betting Program

Paulick Report – Kentucky Legislative Task Force Won’t Recommend Raising Taxes On Historical Horse Racing

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Tom Rooney: The growth of sports betting is an opportunity for racing

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Gilligan – Reasons to be cheerful at last about the future of racing in America

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Pat Day: Just blown away by Secretariat’s breathtaking Belmont

1973 Belmont

1994 Woodward

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Hovdey – When the Breeders’ Cup isn’t the be-all and end-all of championship racing

Bloodhorse – King – Legislation Targets VLT Funding to NY Racing Industry

TDN – Proposed Bill Would Gut Flow of Slot Money to NY Racing

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Hayward – Here’s why there’s no need to worry about the threat to casino revenues – for NYRA at least

He said Woodbine has seen its business grow this year with at-home wagering and simulcasting into the U.S. but has experienced a decline in wagering in the Ontario region. He envisions sports betting as a potential growth segment, with bettors of sports and horse racing sharing similarities.

Bloodhorse – King – Woodbine to Keep Queen’s Plate in August

In the US the big three of thoroughbred racing, CDI, NYRA and the Stronach Group (now that they have their familial squabbles settled) face a daunting task to survive let alone grow in the current market and they have resources that the smaller operators don’t have.

To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.

Edmund Burke

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Marco Bott – How Britain’s Poor Prize Money Is Affecting My Career

Thoroughbred Idea Foundation – TIF Reports: American Racing’s Sustainable Future

The Jockey Club – Thoroughbred Foal Statistics

Thoroughbred foal population in North America has dropped by 50% and Alberta’s not one of the jurisdictions that is bucking the trend.

Bloodhorse – King – Third-Quarter Handle 10.2% Ahead of Pre-Pandemic 2019

Past The Wire – Zorn – Final Handle Numbers for 2020 –What Does It All Mean?

Horse Racing Alberta – Stock – While other sports shut down, horse racing in Alberta exploded

Fool’s Overture

Phil has a question:

When does the song part happen.

Stock and the parties he interviewed must be wearing Tenile’s rose coloured glasses, but Zorn summarized the situation most succinctly:

For those who see the recent enactment of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, setting up federal drug standards and enforcement, as some sort of salvation for the industry, the handle numbers introduce a strong dose of reality. The numbers have been essentially flat for years. And the results for 2020, with its sharp reduction in races but essentially flat handle, showed that there is a finite amount of money chasing however many horse races happen to be run. Improving the perception of honesty in racing may help, but it’s unlikely to attract many new dollars, just slow the rate of decline. And for the future, increased competition from legal sports betting, where takeout is significantly lower than in horse racing, threatens to draw away at least some of the money that remains attracted to racing. And pressure on cash-strapped state governments can only result in decreasing the casino subsidies that prop up purses at many tracks, purses that will not be sustained by static or decreasing handle. The likely scenario is that smaller tracks will continue to go out of business, further concentrating the industry and providing fewer opportunities for horse folks to make a living; eventually foal crops will decrease further, reflecting that reality. From this perspective, the glass looks half-empty, with a crack in the bottom.

The Logical Song

Two decades of subsidies have enabled two decades of ignorance. We need to make our wagering offerings as competitive as possible, and that include a sport that adopts far greater transparency out of respect for all its participants.

Patrick Cummings, the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation’s Executive Director.

Phil has a question:

Was Cummings specifically speaking about horse racing in Alberta.

Wanted Man

The New Yorker – Finnegan – Can Horse Racing Survive?

Bloodhorse – King – Legislation Targets VLT Funding to NY Racing Industry

TDN – Proposed Bill Would Gut Flow of Slot Money to NY Racing

Strong managers who make tough decisions to cut jobs provide the only true job security in today’s world. Weak managers are the problem. Weak managers destroy jobs.

Jack Welch

Phil has a question:

When will underfunded Alberta groups like teachers, nurses, doctors, crown prosecutors et cetera be coming after the Alberta Horse Racing slot money.

One of Phil’s sources reminded Phil that Horse Racing Alberta has already helped fund prosecutors in Alberta in just another example of Horse Racing Alberta’s incompetence in failing to get value for their money spent.

CBC Calgary – Full-time Calgary prosecutor made extra $111K after claiming full-time hours for unrelated tribunal work,

I had heard stories about witches flying on a broom as a kid and I would always think, wow, they had their own private jet.

Manini Mishra

Holybull.ca – Horse Racing Alberta Governance Project

OLG – OLG releases new horse racing economic impact study

Holybull.ca – What Happened to the Alberta Horse Racing Renewal

The Jockey club chart above reflects a flat handle for thoroughbred racing, Zorn points out that the bump in handle for thoroughbred racing reflects a pandemic anomaly yet in Alberta some of the powers that be are celebrating. They’re the same ones who think that “Two decades of subsidies have enabled two decades of ignorance.” does not apply to them.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.

Cowboy Wisdom

The 2001 Alberta Racing Corporation Annual Review states that total provincial handle for 2001 was $144,444,560.

The 2020 Horse Racing Alberta Annual Report states that total provincial handle for 2019 was $99,734,284.

The 2020 Horse Racing Alberta Annual Report states that total provincial handle for 2020 was $86,278992.

The total provincial handle would have to increase by $45,000,000 from the last pre-pandemic year just to be in a flat position.

Resistance is usually ascribed to bodies at rest, and impulse to those in motion, but motion and rest, as commonly conceived, are only relatively distinguished; nor are those bodies always truly at rest, which commonly are taken to be so.

Isaac Newton

Even chicken little logic can correctly conclude that Horse Racing Alberta has failed in its established mandate to lead a racing industry renewal and to manage industry self-regulation in Alberta.

I dream of a better world where a chicken can cross a road without having its motives questioned.

Freud Chicken

Dixie Chicken

Phil has a question:

How can horse racing in Alberta be exploding when the total handle for Alberta dropped by $13,000,000 in 2020.

Why would any person be celebrating an explosion of on-track handle when the total handle for Alberta dropped by over $13,000,000 in 2020. You have to use more than chicken little reasoning to realize that just like the apple bump didn’t mean the sky was falling the fact that for a few months gamblers would rather bet on horse racing in Alberta than tiddly winks in Bulgaria doesn’t mean that horse racing in Alberta is exploding.

The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.

Vladimir Nabakov

For Alberta horse racing to compete in the current and future sports and sports betting and gambling market the participants will have to solve the cryptic crossword with no clues. The NHL excerpt above was one scribe’s thoughts and not the plans of any team or the league. All Horse Racing Alberta’s business plans have ever done is quote pie in the sky handle and breeding numbers and hope that there’s magic in putting those those numbers in a budget or what HRA calls a plan. Even Chicken Little logic knows that there isn’t.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Not Albert Einstein

Woodbine through their HPI platform has been cheating Canadian bettors for years by taking out more than the host track.

Toronto Star – Win, place and show me the money — Canadian bettors seek bigger share of take

Why did the powers that bee at Horse Racing Alberta fail to take Woodbine and HPI to task for what Phil characterizes as an illegal tax on Albertans. When an Albertan buys a product online they pay the Alberta rate of GST, not the Ontario rate. Isn’t it the duty of those in charge of wagering on horse racing in Alberta to ensure that Alberta bettors are treated fairly. Isn’t it the duty of a quasi-government body to ensure that Alberta is getting proper revenues and Albertans are not being subject to taxation from other provinces on an activity that takes place in Alberta.

Single sports betting in Canada has been recently legalized and is being slowly rolled out in and by the provinces. Fixed odds wagering on horse racing won’t be allowed thanks to the intervention of the subsidy king from Woodbine and the inertia of Horse Racing Alberta and the other racing jurisdictions in Canada.

Horse Racing Alberta failed to have horse race betting included in the Alberta government’s sports betting rollout.

If there’s a battle for bricks and mortar sportsbooks to be located at sports facilities in Alberta who would you wager on: the Oilers and Flames or HRA and the tracks.

Phil has a question:

What is Horse Racing Alberta doing to get the Alberta monies wagered on Horse Racing through off shore sites that pay nothing to the sport or the government shifted to sites that do contribute to the sport and the government.

HRA used to tout itself as a model and it’s correct. HRA is a model for “Two decades of subsidies have enabled two decades of ignorance.”

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Dr. Seuss, the Lorax

Man on the Moon

Alberta Horse Racing participants can only hope that the structure that Marcomm and Parlee McLaws propose at least finds its way to thoroughbred racing industry in Alberta surviving.

Anvil Coffee House

Wile E Coyote

Phil has a question:

Does Wile E order from Amazon today.

You have to remember something: Everybody pities the weak; jealousy you have to earn.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

The End

Southern Living – The Best Classic Christmas Movies

The Bishop’s Wife

Southern Living – The Tradition of the Yule Log at Christmas

How To Celebrate Yule

Southern Living – Phillips – How to Spike Store-Bought Eggnog