Horse Racing's Black Friday

 On this Black Friday it's impossible for me to not share this gem from Bucky. 

Lots of great horse racing #BlackFriday deals so grab them before they sell out

Deposit bonuses, free bets, discounted merchandise, memorabilia, etc.

Great job by the horse racing suits to attempt to capture market share on an unofficial US holiday

— Buck Swope (@ShotTakingTime) November 24, 2023

We get he's poking fun and joking around, but satire only works if there's some truth to it. 

Over in Canuckland I noticed a very enticing Black Friday deal on something you'd never get a Black Friday deal on - sports programming. This programming has been costing more and more, and high carriage rates have followed. Online live streaming cost in the U.S. for example, with Fubo or Sling have been going up and up, primarily due to expensive live sports. ESPN have cut staff because of it. 

TSN in Canada, with TSN+ is discounted 40% - it's only $119.99 for an entire year. $10 per month. I'm honestly not sure how they did this. It was very surprising because this feels not only poor business from a CLV perspective, it feels break even at best. 

This is probably a much better deal than a horse racing ADW having a Black Friday sale of deposit $1,000, bet it, and get $200. There we'd bet $1,000, contribute $200 in rake anyway. We'd win, theoretically $960 back, and rebet that four or five times. And we'd be stickier in the ADW, playing more and more, exactly what we're supposed to be doing. 

You'd expect a quasi-monopoly in sports programming like Bell in Canada (who owns TSN) to find it incredibly hard to offer 40% off a years programming. But they did. 

Horse racing (not a monopoly in gambling) can't even enter the same zip code. In fact, even with a hundred million or so of subsidy, like at Kentucky Downs has, means a Black Friday increase in prices, not a reduction. 

If you're looking for a Black Friday deal in the sport I noticed Horse Racing Nation had one on content. But if you're betting into an ADW, pony up the big rake for another year. It's just the way things are run.

Notes: 

Chris is hard at work at his Bet With the Best pod. He had Emily from Optix and Steve Crist the last couple of weeks.