This is pari-mutuel wagering, where the successful bettors feast off of the unsuccessful ones. It’s their money that they are winning, not the house’s money. With the CAW phenomenon, betting on the horses has turned into a matter of the whales vs. minnows or the CAW bettors vs. everyone else. The whales have been gobbling up the minnows, and after a while all the minnows will be gone. This is a serious threat to the long-term viability of the sport. If the CAW players bet more than ever in 2021, well, that’s a big problem.
TDN – Bill Finley – The Week in Review, by Bill Finley
It’s all about the money.
Joe Jackson
Phil has a question:
If Bill Finley can ramble can Phil.
Lest one get too confident over the health of the sport there are ominous clouds ahead amid evidence of significant criminal malfeasance and ineffective oversight within the industry. The industry in general, including New York racing, survives in large part with hefty subsidies from the casino gaming activities that encroached upon racing’s previously exclusive territory.
The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.
Paulick Report – Paulick – Takeaways From Tucson: HISA Talk Dominates Global Symposium On Racing
Regarding how fixed odds would generate income for the racing industry, Baker said the winning cut for bookmakers is approximately 12%. Of this, he noted that in New Jersey the takeout on fixed odds is to be about 4%, with 1% going back toward purses and the remaining 3% to the track and other entities.
Phil has a question:
Can the thoroughbred industry do simple arithmetic.
If 1% of fixed odds betting takeout goes to purses how much fixed odds handle do you need to generate $1,000,000.00 in purses.
Bloodhorse – King – Fixed Odds, Sports Wagering Embraced at Symposium
Sports Journal – U.S. sportsbook handle blows past $6 billion in October
Money often costs too much.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
If the rise of Fox Sports was just about money, or if the product had turned into a haunted mansion like Fox News, we could leave it at that. But Murdoch’s lieutenants at Fox Sports had a creative side. They thought TV football had gotten stale — “boring as shit,” one of them said in an Aussie accent.
The Ringer – Curtis – The Great NFL Heist: How Fox Paid for and Changed Football Forever
The Sports Journal – Madden revolutionized sports broadcasting, bringing enthusiasm to booth
There are some indications in this study that interest in the Melbourne Cup is stronger for older age brackets than younger ones. Younger people were more likely to indicate that they had never been interested in the Melbourne Cup, and the Disapprover and the Flaneur clusters were both significantly younger than Devotees. The Paradoxical-voting cluster tended to be younger rather than older people and were more likely to be male.
Grub Street – Sugar – The Biggest Problems Facing Restaurants Right Now
Vulture – Seitz – A Guide to Rewatching Sidney Poitier’s Most Memorable Films
Garden and Gun – Gomez-Misserian – Meet Big John, the King of “Horsetok”
Sports Business Journal – Spanberg – Playing Through
Sportsnet – NHLPA files grievance as Sharks officially terminate Evander Kane’s contract
They say some of my stars drink whiskey. But I have found that the ones who drink milkshakes don’t win many ball games.
TSN – Will Kane find another team or is he too much of a distraction?
If you can’t beat ’em in the alley, you can’t beat ’em on the ice.
Conn Smythe
Sportsnet – New NHL investigation will likely delay Kane signing anywhere in short-term
The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break.
John Madden
CNBC – Snyder – 4 things Bill Belichick asks the Patriots to do every day
One Response to “Do 2021 Handle Figures Tell the Whole Story?”
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Canadian Thoroughbred article from Dec 23/2021 states a massive drop in century mile thoroughbred handle from $41.69 mil in 2020 to $36.64 mil in 2021. Over $5 million in lost revenue handle with only 2 race days over million bet.
The slots represent 85% of HRA?? revenue, with little incentive to grow the other 15% of the dwindling pie. The new A team of MSG – will they create a secret growth additive to help the industry in decline ?
Canadian Racing Accountability Partners have calculated a major decline of a rumoured 468 A track thoroughbreds for the 2022 season. Short fields of 6 horses and racing Friday night and Saturday afternoons look like a recipe for disaster, as the bettors taste buds will seek other venues.