More Optics For Racing Talk. I Think it Means Just About Everything

I was posting this link to an article a little bit ago (pdf, p4):

Draft Kings and others like them have brought a lot of these issues on themselves. Despite them knowing many were waiting in the weeds to pounce, their structure, their lack of controls, their desire to grow at breakneck speed and their inexperience still made them gloss over what’s most important: Transparency, the integrity of a gambling game, and how such is perceived. That’s something that never gets old and they’re getting a lesson in that truism. 

[Meanwhile] racing depends in large part on public money, and government support, and make no mistake, like with Fantasy Sports, there are many in the weeds waiting to pounce. That is all the more reason to be hyper-vigilant with these issues. If any rule change looks bad – no matter how well intentioned - it must be scrapped, because optics mean everything. 

 Just after linking it, I saw the sad news about BC Sprint contender Rock Fall.

The past week we've been speaking of the all-important issues with the framework of a gambling game. Racing is a gambling game and has the same issues the above article explores, however, this morning's news is a stark reminder there is so much more to it. When your sport involves animals and gambling in 2015, it's on an even shorter leash. Optics mean more for racing than they do for casino's, fantasy sports, almost every other one of racing's competitors combined. Sometimes I wonder if we realize that, or we're so caught up in the day to day it, like the DFS issues, are glossed over.