We'll get a few things out of the way before looking more closely at the North America Cup. I think I might pipe in a blog here Saturday evening. I will add twitter feeds from harness players, so if you are newer to the game and want to watch what players are chatting about with the card, it might be helpful. One caveat, one of the people I follow is Benny Beam. Benny is sometimes (only about every three posts) prone to some profanity. If you are under 18, you might want to ask your parents. That is my Benny Beam disclaimer :)
First up, there is tons of news on NorthAmericacup.com and Standardbred Canada about the Cup. Woodbine and SC is doing a great job filtering news this year - the best we've seen, in my opinion. For those of you who want to watch the Cup for free, who might not have an ADW account, they are (for the first time!) providing live video streaming of the event. You can access it via links here.
VFTG has full card picks here.
As most know, the state of Pennsylvania is dipping into the purse/industry fund for general revenues. Cohen gives his take here.
"In the long-run, both racing industry entities and racino operators must find ways to increase pari-mutuel wagering in order for racing to survive." says a gambling economist.
Some chatting going on over at R2 about racings use of video. I would issue a challenge to the North America Cup folks. Each year there are good stories, a great crowd and everything else via Cup night. A video diary or commercial would be good to have each year, I believe. The Breeders Cup does this, as below, and it is very effective to brand the event. Some cash went into this video, however, I think we can do something in harness racing that at least rivals it in some way. Have a look:
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How do we differentiate ourselves from thoroughbred bettors? What are the pros and cons of being a harness bettor? In a recent article at R2...
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In 1996, most know that the pari-mutuel tax on wagering was reduced from 7.5% to 0.5% as part of the slots at racetracks program. The indust...
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Sitting outside, or in the grandstand at Greenwood brings back many memories. Racing was super-popular and we usually had a packed house and...
1 comment:
What Dr. Thalheimer rambles on a bit but what he should be saying flat out: The current game is overpriced and gains made through marketing efforts only has a temporary effect on the business.
New fans are simply not going to attend and wager successfully,
while competing against veteran bettors who are already battle tested against these takeout rates.
The game is overpriced. Top to bottom. The Business Model must be corrected.
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