The Thoroughbred Blog Alliance dude (aka Handride) worked the past while to get some free past performances for players for select races. Hey, why not? If people have a PP they tend to bet a few dollars, and after all when we go to McDonald's to buy a burger they don't charge us to look at the menu. If the business will not work for the customer, maybe bloggers can by compiling links of already free PP's out there on the web. It worked quite simply: If there was a free PP out there (not pirated or illegal, but out there on the web already for anyone to see and use if they could find it) the TBA linked to it, and/or allowed you to search for them.
But this ended rather abruptly.
The TBA had a good run of posting free pp's for the past 6 months or so. You'll remember I emailed Mr Espinosa before it all started to try and get him on board something useful to both his company and the fans. I never heard back and I created the searchable free pp engine many enjoyed. As of now it's not working. So, I have emails back into everyone I can think of to come to an equitable solution. Fingers crossed someone reads an email.
Foolish Pleasure lets them have it.
Why? In a time when handle is falling like a rock, much like the stock market and the economy as a whole, why not allow bettors the easiest possible access to information that is—let me repeat—is already free. It is on the web. How are the stables posting the information harmed? They are providing for clients information about their own horses, and they have decided to pay whatever fee Brisnet chooses to allow for open retrieval. It’s no skin off their nose if we bloggers post the links.
When we were a monopoly, things like this and myriad other issues tantamount to bouncing a ball on our nose to make a bet made sense. But it does not anymore. This business needs change virtually from top to bottom.
If someone from Bris would like to respond to this, either here, or to Handride we would appreciate it.
5 comments:
Bris deserves praise for offering the Free PPs in the first place.
Hopefully they will continue with the Trainer/Stallion agreement.
Unfortunately one site was asking for donations with the PPs, and that may have caused problems, and I see that our friend Handride felt the same way as I do. Offering the Free PPs helps both business and the customer.
Before the Free PPs I was primarily a DRF guy, and if I did purchase Bris, it was of the cheapest variety. Now I am so familiar and pleased with Bris that I consider using Bris PPs in my handicapping pieces, I purchase Bris PPs more often than before there were Free PPs(smart business does pay off!), and I now purchase Bris Ultimate PPs.
I think Bris needs praise also to give Free PPs in that way also. I think it was horrible to ask for donations with PP's in the first place. This person should have been asking them on his picks page instead. I think offering Free PPs helps their business and the customer also in the way it gets known on how these PPs programs go and then down the line people do purchase them. I do think that Bris needs to reach an agreement with all the trainers and stallions to put all the free ones on a website page to make it easier for the horse player and then they would generate more business for the races that are missing from the free ones. Once in a while they need to just give a certain track away like once a week and give people a chance to see how they work and that would generate more business also. It helps the PR department also. I hope someone can pass along the idea of this to them and see if they would agree to that.
Just mouse over the link and read the web address that shows up at bottom of browser (i.e. Thursday Gulfstream Race 9 could be "Darley_1411411.pdf") and then go to the dropdown menu of trainers and stables to get your free pp's. Still works fine but with just a slight bit more effort.
just so everyone is clear, BRIS doesn't give away these PP's for Free. They charge $150 a month to whomever (sire/stable etc) is paying for them. Those people are the ones paying for this as a service to their customers (potential owners, etc).
It's a nice service that BRIS offers -- don't get me wrong, but it's really the people paying for them you should be thanking, just as much if not more so than Bris.
"just so everyone is clear, BRIS doesn't give away these PP's for Free. They charge $150 a month to whomever (sire/stable etc) is paying for them."
Wow, I take back the smart business/praise Bris comments...
Bris is very lucky to be getting paid! for such good advertising.
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