Quote:
Originally Posted by thaskalos
You can't compare the other spectator sports to horse-racing...because the racing fan is an active PARTICIPANT...instead of just an observer. Our sport didn't decline because of the advent of football, basketball and the MMA...it declined because it is no longer an affordable gambling game for the majority of the gamblers out there. Horse-racing doesn't have a "marketing" problem; I dare say that almost all of the gamblers out there, regardless of their game of choice, have gotten acquainted with horse-racing at one time or another. But they didn't stay in our game for long...and THAT'S the real problem. Instead of trying to indoctrinate "young players" to our game...the racing industry should be asking themselves why the game has such a difficult time retaining the "older players" that it used to count on.
Now...if you were comparing horse-racing to sports-BETTING...then I would see the commonalities.
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1. People bet on other sports too. Indeed, sports betting is a big part of the rise of pro football and the NCAA tournament, among other things.
2. If horse racing's decline were exclusively a betting phenomenon, why did boxing decline at the same time? And why did other sports rise up?
3. The racetracks used to be filled with what were called "$2 bettors". Yes, they bet, a little. But their main affinity for the sport was aesthetic, not gambling.
Indeed, for most of horse racing's history as a major, popular sport, it was actually very hard to make a big gambling score. When horse racing was popular, there were very few exotic bets. A daily double, and then later on a handful of exactas. It was a much, much worse gambling game back then than it is now. And yet it was more popular.
And even now, where horse racing still IS successful, it attracts lots of casual bettors. Like at Saratoga or at the TC races.
4. I am sorry if it offends any older posters on this board, but I think it is absolutely stupid and self-destructive for any sport to cater to old people. Old people get sick and die, and they also never make any activity they are involved in hip and trendy and marketable.
You want to have horse races available to bet on for years to come? You need to attract younger people. Period.
