Fixing harness racing… no, not THAT way!

In a recent Mane Attraction, it was pointed out that many harness racing journalists have professed that our great sport needs a “facelift” of sorts, addressing the problems concerning the attrition of everything from fans to field sizes.

Yes, it’s true that we are, in some instances, on “life support,” dependent on harness racing’s own form of “social security” from casinos and legislatures.

With the “change of our breed” from durability to speed over the last few decades, along with the competition from lotteries, casinos, simulcasting, decimating on-track participation, and sports betting, our great sport is facing a future track unable to be classified as “fast!”

Harnesslink has reached out to some of harness racing’s most articulate spokespersons in the form of drivers, trainer, judges, executives, writers and fans to get their pulse on our future.

Here’s “part one” of what we are sure will be future discussions on our future with thoughts from John Campbell, Kim Hankins, David Miler, Tim Tetrick, Joe Zambito and Tim Bojarski, among others.

We’ll start with one of our sport’s most cherished and respected gentlemen, John Campbell.

(Harnesslink) Thanks, J.C., for your input on harness racing’s future. I’d like to start by asking you if our sport is ready to seed a Commissioner at the top like the NBA’s Adam Silver, NFL’s Roger Goodell, Hockey’s Gary Bettman and Major League Baseball’s Rob Manfred.

(John Campbell-JC) “Well, JB, let me start by saying I think it’s virtually impossible for harness racing to ever get all the entities in power to cede power to a Commissioner…but it’s fun to pretend!

“Let me caution the people that are clamoring for a Commissioner with absolute power that the key to that is getting the right person for the job.

“A bad Commissioner doesn’t solve anything.

“The first thing a Commissioner must do is identify all the entities that will be affected by his or her decisions.

“(You’ve got to) get them all in a room and explain that there are going to be some difficult and controversial decisions and all of these entities are going to be unhappy at some point.”

(Harnesslink) That’s a tall order…how do you accomplish that?

(JC) “I would hope that our Commissioner would look at history and study Pete Rozelle and David Stern, two of the greatest Commissioners in history.

“Dean Towers wrote an excellent article in (a recent) HRU pointing out that the product is what makes the NFL as popular and successful  as it is today.

“I did reach out to Dean  and express my opinion that Pete Rozelle’s vision and decisions built the foundation and grew the NFL into a massive worldwide sports entity that it has become.

“He, somehow, convinced a group of egomaniacal millionaires into revenue sharing with the mandate ‘if it’s good for all teams, it’s good for the long term health of the league.’

“David Stern, basically, did there same thing when he resurrected the NBA in the (19)70’s. They both had the backing of enough influential owners to rule with a very persuasive iron fist.”

(Harnesslink) So, JC, what’s the ‘key’ to getting everyone in harness racing aboard. A s you stated, some have kind of large egos, you know!

(JC) “The key to our Commissioner  would be the same as Rozelle and Stern making good enough decisions in the beginning to instill confidence  in the various entities to rule with absolute power.”

(Harnesslink) So what do you see is the so-called first order of business…would it be the medication issues, which have gotten many of the headlines of late?

(JC) “Obviously, universal rules and penalties would be the first order of business.”

(Harnesslink) What’s next?

(JC) “I would think it’s maximizing handle at every track. Let’s face it, we will not get people back to the tracks on a regular basis anymore—it’s just too easy to watch at home or on our (electronic} devices…except for our big events…so handle is the only barometer for our popularity with the betting public.”

(Harnesslink) So handle still matters?

(JC) “Building handle is still imperative to show legislators, the media and the public that we are growing our game. The key is managing race dates, full, competitive, well-matched fields and managing off times.”

(Harnesslink) The drag and managing off times has become a situation in recent years.

(JC) “Yes, eliminating the drag would be a popular decision but, in order for that to work, the Commissioner would need COMPLETE cooperation from ALL tracks—thoroughbred included—yes, they have a drag, as well.”

(Harnesslink) Inquiries and objections then come into play, as well.

(JC) “Yes, they do…and that can take several minutes to throw things off sync. By the way, speaking of judges, the office of the Commissioner would have scrutiny over judges and all of the above mentioned—race dates, full, competitive fields, etc.”

(Harnesslink) How would this be funded?

(JC) “All tracks and horsemen’s groups would be required to contribute to two funds for promotion and marketing. One fund would be for local level initiatives and the other would go into the national initiative possibly through the USTA and take a broader approach.”

(Harnesslink) There’s been a lot of scuttlebutt on, sugar-coating it a bit, mis-use of prohibited medication.

(JC) Yes, and that would necessitate hiring or having on call a forensic accounting firm letting the industry know that the days of beard trainers and hidden ownership will not be tolerated.

(Harnesslink) HISA is a hot topic these days. Any thoughts on tat?

(JC) “Well, no doubt there are bumps and potholes in it now but we really aren’t involved deeply right at this moment and we’ll see how things play out over time to smooth things out for all breeds that will eventually be involved.”

(Harnesslink) One other question, JC…and I am sure you knew this was coming…Would you ever consider being Commissioner, if asked?

(JC) No…absolutely not!

(Harnesslink) Thanks, JC, for your talent and wisdom!

by John Berry, for Harnesslink