It seems to happen about every six months. Tracks want X, horsemen want Y, and the customer gets the shaft. Massachusetts is the latest jurisdiction to punish the horseplayer and fan, with the horseman group(s) pulling Florida and Ohio signals from the MA customers, even ADW customers.
"So, the situation is ugly, and complicated, and seems likely to become more so before anything is settled."
Read more here
4 comments:
Suffolk Downs has been suffering for a long time. With Governor Patrick vetoing the casino/racino licensing bill, it's unlikely the situation here will change any time soon.
Seriously, are any of us really clamoring to bet Suffolk? This is like watching two strangers brawling, telling you that they'll stop hitting each other if you give them some money. My answer is, just keep beating the crap out of each other. You both deserve the pummeling you're getting.
I do not think it is Suffolk as much as Mass horseplayers being unable to play FL and OH tracks, because the horsemen there are blocking their signal from being sent to Mass customers. The link explains that.
Not a good situation there.
HANA
It is pitiful that it comes to horsemen denying horse players the right to give horsemen and tracks their custom in order to bargain. It seems more and more as though a national authority is needed to step in and say Stop - because clearly no one group/stakeholder in the industry is capable of looking beyond the next five seconds in their favor to what is right for the sport/industry as a whole. How pathetic. "Love" your sport? Show it - and its customers - some love, or watch it die. Maybe as long as you are "king-pin" when it does die, you don't mind that too much. Something to tell your grandkids? Hey, we drained the last dollar and ounce of loyalty out of "x" group before horse racing died at our own cost - yahoo!
Post a Comment