Is takeout the way to increase on-track attendance?

As we all know, many harness racing tracks are racing on wobbly legs these days with many relying on State subsidies to insure their continued existence.

For example, in a recent event up north, the purse in a conditioned-claiming event was $17,500, which, both happily and sadly, was more than 50% above that race’s pari-mutuel handle of $11,397—happily because the purse was excellent but, sadly, because, if it weren’t for outside subsidies and if based solely on handle, would have been about $1,000.

Stretching things, a bit further, the entire program had purses right at $150,000, with total handle hovering just about $100,000, with purses based on that totaling, maybe, $9,000 for the entire program.

Another venue that same day offered $160,000 in purses and barely handled $200,000. Without subsidies, purses would have totaled, probably, $16,000 to $20,000 with those 1:51 pacers going for $3,000 or less.

Frankly, that scared me…a lot. Because legislators are always looking to strip those subsidies from racing and put the funds toward other things like, they say, for health care, education and some other “pork” projects benefiting their run for the next election.

Looking at that realistically, does racing appear to be in trouble, you bet it is!

We complain that “nobody goes to the track anymore.”

Why? Because little or nothing is done to get patrons there when you can sit on a couch at home, pull out your phone and dial your nearest “legal” bookmaker, whether it be TVG, Twin Spires, AMWAGER, etc., with sports betting also taking away pari-mutuel dollars, as well, like Fan Duel, Draft Kings, Xbet, BETNOW and BetUS, among the many others…with luring, huge signup bonuses.

It’s come to the point where one can get on the phone and bet whether the next pitch will be a strike or whether the next hitter will get a hit or whether the next play on the football field will be a pass or a rush.

So, here’s a novel idea to get people to come to the track…NO TAKEOUT!

Just as subsidies and some casinos, themselves, help to subsidize purses, let’s pay to subsidize the on-track patron a bit more, as well.

After all, they are candidates to buy programs (which should be free, anyhow), purchase meals, play slots and poker, along with other live games…in other words, it would be a win-win situation for everyone!

(By the way, on the subject of programs, if you do charge for them, put some worth into them like $3.00 off your buffet or $5.00 in slot play to help yourselves in this novel subsidy.)

It would work something like this…odds on the tote-board would show “full-dollar” odds with no takeout in the equation and, when official, track patrons would get those full dollar odds.

Thus, for example, a 9 to 1 shot would return $20 up to $21.80, while an OTB bettor would receive an adjusted $16.20 up to $17.80 based on a 19% takeout. (Years ago in New York, OTB patrons received a lesser amount, as well, I recall.)

The contrast would really be felt in any exotic wagering made on track, as the takeout throughout the industry can be as much as 35%.

In trifecta wagers, where the “popular” takeout is 25%, if there is a pool, for example, of $15,000, if there are, similarly, five winners with two on track, the track patrons would receive $3,000 each while the OTB bettors would get $2,250.

Tracks would still be getting their normal takeout with their OTB players, so even if live track admissions increase minimally, you’re still getting your takeout while increasing your revenue in many arenas.

Again, for those nay-sayers that say it’ll never work, and casinos will never buy into this, it’s exactly the negative attitude we are seeing every day and why we are losing our industry to global warming…we’re doing nothing to stop it!

by John Berry, for Harnesslink