Night School Town Hall Recap

I was one of the panelists on the Night School Town Hall online chat session Tues Sept 11, 2012.

Before giving my recap I want to express the following:

The other panelists: ESPN's Jeremy Plonk, Jill Byrne, paddock analyst for Churchill Downs, Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Trey Buck, executive director of racing for the American Quarter Horse Association, Jason Wilson, vice president of business development for The Jockey Club, Tom Chuckas, president of the Maryland Jockey Club, Tim Ritvo, chief operating officer of the Stronach Group/president and general manager of Gulfstream Park, Jim Miller, assistant general manager of Hawthorne Race Course, Mandy Minger, vice president/marketing of Daily Racing Form, Amy Zimmerman, Eclipse Award-winning executive producer for HRTV, Jennie Rees, Eclipse Award-winning turf writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal, John DeSantis, senior vice president/editor for Xpressbet, Jeremy Clemons, vice president/marketing for Twinspires, Satish Sanan, Breeders' Cup-winning owner/breeder of Padua Stables –

ALL of the other panelists – EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM is a GREAT ambassador of this game.

I’ve met many of them in person. There is one universal theme among them that I find refreshing. To a person you will not meet ANYONE more upbeat and positive about racing. You will not meet anyone anywhere who LOVES horse racing more than the people on last night’s panel.

Don’t get me wrong. I was happy to have been thought highly enough of to have been invited onto the panel - and I certainly enjoyed participating.

But…

If you are a horseplayer and you followed last night’s Town Hall chat session (or if you read the transcript) you have to be struck by the following:

For ninety minutes the panel managed to duck what the vast majority of HANA’s horseplayer members see as racing’s core issues.

Why is this important?

According to numbers on the Jockey Club website, in 2003, all sources handle for thoroughbred racing conducted in North America was $15.9 billion. Last year, for calendar year 2011, all sources handle for thoroughbred racing conducted in North America came in at $11.4 billion. That’s a loss of 28.3% in just nine years. (The loss is even worse if you adjust it for inflation.)

That, by itself, should be enough to send a red flag up the pole.

But nothing of the sort happened on last night’s Town Hall panel. In fact, by the end of the night many of the panelists were patting each other on the back for all the things that racing does right – and without ever once addressing in any meaningful way the three obvious elephants sitting in the room.

I want to talk about the obvious elephants sitting in the room.

In 2009, we did the first HANA Survey. In that survey, 75 percent of you identified high takeout as the primary reason you bet less than you otherwise would. In that survey, more than 70 percent of you identified an outdated tote system and odds that change after the bell as the number two reason you bet less than you otherwise would. In that survey, more than two thirds of you identified racing’s drug problem as the number three reason you bet less than you otherwise would.

Not only that, but in survey after survey, HANA’s horseplayer members have consistently confirmed those original findings.

From a market research standpoint, I have very little trouble identifying the obvious elephants sitting in the room as follows:

1. High Takeout.

2. Obsolete Tote System/Odds that change after the bell (translates to lack of integrity.)

3. Drugs (translates to lack of integrity.)

Don’t get me wrong. I think Night School is a wonderful idea. However, racing cheerleaders can only take you so far.

Until or unless racing decides to take on the obvious elephants sitting in the room – expect racing to continue to decline in popularity among the public at large and expect racing’s key metric: handle - to continue its long term decline as well.

EDIT: One thing I didn't get to see live as a panelist during the chat session were results of the polls. However, while scrolling through the "replay" of the chat I came across the following:

Poll Results - What is Racing's Biggest Problem to Fix?

Poll Results - Which Idea Do You Like Best Tonight?

I rest my case.

Jeff Platt

President, HANA

PS - For those of you interested in a "replay" of last night's chat, here's the link:
http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=59dcf61cd7/height=550/width=470

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