What will bring the younger crowd to Horse Racing?

Question

There seems to be a steady decline in Horse Racing. The younger generation hasn't embraced the sport as generations in the past. What in your opinion can the industry do to breath new life into the sport?

Tony
http://www.thorostats.com

Answer 1

There is a slow incline, but nothing to worry about. Most people arent interested in it because you literally have to have millions of dollars to really enjoy it fully.

Answer 2

Well for one thing, it needs to be a lot more available. Kids know about baseball and football and basketball and soccer and volleyball and things, but only a small percentage of kids ride horses or watch racing. All of the other sports (not volleyball) are on television all the time and have long seasons culminating in a battle to determine the best team. And all it takes to play those games is a ball and some equipment. Kids can watch and play those sports all the time. Horse racing is on sporatically. There's 3 big races that everyone knows in the spring, a smaller group watch the Breeders Cup in the Fall, and then there's the occasional race on television other than that. The fact that the 3 triple crown races are the only horse racing that these children might see creates a couple of problems. It gives the impression that these 3 races are all that horse racing is... it dramatically reduces the size of the industry for kids imaginations. Kids are never introduced to harness racing or quarter horse racing. They don't see thoroughbred racing except for in the spring. There's also a problem that if kids do happen to see the triple crown races 1 year, it's a whole year until horse racing is on again, so they could forget that they like racing or forget to watch the races when they're on. The problem is that it's just not accessable enough for the kids today. Sure we have TVG and HRTV, but only the richer kids will see those channels since they're not part of the basic cable provided to most households. The major networks only show horse racing for the triple crown and the breeders. ESPN will show racing as a last resort when nothing else is on... Poker tournaments get more air time than the horses on ESPN. Last weekend we saw Hard Spun's race on ESPN... but that's only because the college basketball was on CBS and ESPN couldn't show it. Horse racing needs at least a once a week spot on some channel if kids are going to get into the sport.

Answer 3

Despite what the popular media says, there is no real imminent danger to the sport as a whole, just particular racetracks in certain areas.

One of the most successful strategies is the introduction of slot machines to racetracks, which draws the general gambling population in addition to the horseplayers. This enables the track to increase purses and present a better quality of racing.

Also, I think the introduction of "polytrack"
(synthetic racing surface) at many tracks is a good thing since it reduces the number of injuries to horses and tends to increase field size which attracts more betting.

Racing often has promotions to attract younger people, but I don't necessarily believe these work that well. My local OTB is packed every Derby Day, with many young people, but most of the people that show up to bet the Derby have zero interest, say, in a Grade I stakes at Santa Anita the next weekend and you don't see them the rest of the year.

The reality is that racing runs on a core of real horseplayers/fans, not the dilettantes who bet the Derby but have no idea what the Arlington Million is.

Frankly, I think that if you are a real fan, you will develop an interest after seeing one Breeders Cup or Derby and be hooked. Conversely, a lot of promotion isn't going to bring in someone who isn't interested and make them into a bettor, other than maybe a few big racing days every year.

Answer 4

Raise the minimum age at which horses race and stop treating them as commodities- that is one suggestion. One of the reasons the sport has lost its appeal is in part due to the perception by many young people that it is cruel to the animals and the people involved in it. There is also a perception out there that horse racing is only for the very wealthy who have nothing better to do with their time or money. I also think that there are too many other ways for young people to spend their time that don't involve racing- and too many other sports that are much more family friendly and which don't carry the constant risk and threat of a fatal accident. No parent ( and many of our younger generation are parents themselves by now) wants his or her child to see a terrible accident on the track, and lately there have been far too many of those, it seems. The people who run these industries need to get together and realize that if they really want a bigger audience, and more money for the tracks, then the sport's cruel, dark side has to be brought under control and if possible ended outright. The horses that break down and are destroyed during and after races ARE telling us all something- but we aren't listening and it's actually questionable whether or not some of us can even hear the message that they are sending. Raise the minimum age at which horses race- give these poor babies a chance to grow up, and become mature and strong so that they CAN stand up to the rigors of the sport and survive racing long enough to be able to pass on their genes. This simple step alone will save the lives of tens of thousands of horses, and will do a lot to clean up the sport's image. Sometimes, I have to wonder what it is about people that makes them believe that it is okay to ask a young horse to do work that we would NEVER ask of a human child. Can you picture a nine year old kid running around the track at Churchill Downs or any other track, for a mile or more, under extreme stress ( and often in VERY hot weather) and being forced to run to the point where the child's bones shatter from stress? No one in their right mind would consider such a scenario, and yet we ask this of our young racehorses. A three year old horse is just like a nine year old child, and deserves the same respect and protection- including protection from being asked to race to the point of its bones shattering from stress, all for the sake of human entertainment. In short, if you wouldn't do it to a kid, why would anyone do it to a horse, except for the obvious reason- MONEY?!!

Answer 5

Not trying to be pessimistic, but I don't believe there are steps that can be taken to bring back sustained popularity in horse racing as there was in years past. We see occasional increases in interest (Barbaro, Seabiscuit movie, Triple Crown on the line), but it seems to fall off pretty quickly.

I think that horse racing had it's era, and that time won't return.

Society is much different...there were way fewer forms of entertainment back in the day. Now, sports are played and televised in abundance. Gambling comes in countless forms and can be experienced without leaving the home (Internet).

Horse racing had much less competition when it was so widely embraced. I'm a guilty...going to the track was a treat, but don't go to live racing nearly as often as I once did. I do wager over the Internet, and some of that excitement that can only be felt "on track", is lost.

I'm a huge fan, and I don't think that the industry should just throw it's hands up, but I don't ever see the return to where it once was.

**Tujungar**
Are you serious??? I love Santa Anita, but to say that the infield is always open and business isn't hurting, seems to indicate that you haven't been to the Great Race Place very often in the past 5 years.

The infield is usually open on the weekends only and everyone in the grandstand can hear if anyone sneezes...it's bare.

It's a beautiful race track, but attendance is in the 5,000 ballpark on weekdays.

Answer 6

I say this tongue in cheek... become a "degenerate" Big Brother or Sister and bring the kids to the track. That's the voice of experience, my uncle took me at the age of 3...LOL! Needless to say I have been hooked ever since.

I love the tracks that are family friendly like Saratoga and Del Mar. Every week-end at Saratoga the families are out to claim the picnic tables. If you take the time to answer their questions, you have made a fan for life!

I don't mean to harp on Saratoga, but it's the track I am most familiar with this kind of setting. The Trainers, jockeys and horses come down a walk way right in the middle of where fans line up to get autographs. They are front and center, the more they make themselves available to the kids the more fans we will have. Some of the jockeys go out of their way to be good to the kids ( Mark Guidry and Edgar Prado are the greatest when it comes to the kids and fans in general).

Answer 7

Well I am 13 and I love horse racing and I know like only a few kids in my BIG school like it too only like 3 though out of like 600. Including me. So yes that is very true. But for us to help get other kids into horse racing is going to be hard. Because there is just not lots of kids now'a days that thinks horse racing is "cool". So maybe we could get the people that like horses get into them as aslo seeing them race. Because I was never a fan of horse racing untill last year, which is when I got a horse and got deep into horses, now I just LOVE horse racing. Also another thing that would help is if there was another race horse like Barbaro. That really inspired more and more people to get into race horses. But a horse like Barbaro only comes around once in a generation, ya know.
Well hope this might have helped out your question.

♥melissa♥

Answer 8

This is a question that the people in the industry worry about. It's true that the fan base for racing is aging, and new fans aren't being brought in in significant enough numbers to make a difference.

I used to think that just the beauty and spectacle of racing was enough to bring fans in, but that just isn't the case. And it's also true that racing, if it is to survive, needs to bring in fans who will WAGER, not just watch and enjoy the races. Wagering is the lifeblood of racing and if mutuel handle goes down, then purses go down, and racing continues to decline.

I think that racing first of all needs to promote the wagering opportunities available at the track. There are lots of exotic bets available in addition to the win-place-show wagering, and with most tracks carrying the signals from other racetracks, you can get as much wagering action as you want.

I think also that if the people who promote racing want to bring people, specifically young people, into the track, they have to make it inviting for them: people should be able to get into the track with a very modest admission, and that admission should entitle them to a comfortable seat somewhere, with a good view of the action, at no additional charge. The tracks should have dining areas that are fun, attractive places to be, with food and beverages available at a reasonable cost.

And racing should promote, promote, promote what a fun place the races can be, and then make darn sure that every employee the patron comes in contact with has as their number one objective making things fun. There is nothing that kills the fun faster than going to a window to bet and having a surly mutuel clerk get impatient with the patron because the patron doesn't know what to do.

Beyond that, I don't know what could be done. Racing should be a festival, it should be fun for people to attend, comfortable facilities should be available, and employees should do their best to ensure that people want to come back.

Answer 9

You have never been to Santa Anita THE great race place,Attendance does not drop they make it a pleasure to spent a day at the track no matter what age,The infield is always open for picnics they have mini brew beer festivals live bands kids rides car shows not to leave out the best part.The best overall horse racing in the world on a day to day basis.And its not expensive.A great way to spend a day with family and friends and you will come back.

Answer 10

an atmosphere like Del Mar...lots of young people are there for the entire meet, and the opening day is unbelieveable...looks like spring break south of the border...on fridays they have a live band after the last race and always some kind of activities...without young peoples interest (wagering) and/or slot machines the horseracing industry will go into a decline it wont recover from...currently there is just too much competition for the entertainment dollar

Answer 11

I am fourteen and I love horse racing most kids dont even know what a jockey is. I know a lot about horse racing and i am planing to be a jockey just advertise it more like they do other sports.