Why they slowly turned horse racing into a 450lbs lady with no tattoos or herpes...?

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I never understood how and why the trend of constant takeout increases over time came to be.


Reading old DRF columns ... it was strongly suggested that takeout in NY be no higher than 5% when pari-mutuel wagering was about to come to be...



In Southern California in the late 1930's Santa Anita voluntarily cut takeout when law makers passed a bill to bump up their share of the takeout.

The takeout has crept up everywhere from 10% or 11% to the levels of today... but why? I think the following old-time quote gives a possible explanation regarding why that march upward started in the first place ...



The ultimate result is horse racing becoming a horribly unattractive game for its casual bettors and new fans... more and more so overtime. It's really developed quite the stigma as a "suckers game" with the general public.

How is this reversed? How does a 450lbs clean lady with a wonderful personality and brilliant cooking ability become attractive again? Yeah, it's a long painfully slow process of reduction. Tampa Bay Downs figured this out like 8 years ago - props to them. At the rate of their reductions - from extremely draconian starting levels - they should be able to pass for "cute" by the time the 2038 meet comes along. By the 2096 meet, they could be a full-fledged hottie.

[randallscott35]

Pretty much. Racing used to be the best value in betting. No longer.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

In NY, they raised the takeout from 10% to 15% after the 1945 racing season.

The committe report from mid 1949 goes on about how the betting handle had since suffered badly ... but nothing is said about how unhealthy it was for the long term of the sport.

In 1945 approximately $40 million in $100 tickets were sold in NY. In 1948 approximately $15 million were sold.

In 1945 $114 million in $50 bets were sold. In 1948 just $72 million were sold.

The amount of $2 bets sold in 1945 was only $20 million higher than in 1948.

The conclusion of the above data is that most of the big bettors who bought the $50 and $100 tickets - because of the takeout hike - were now betting with bookies instead of buying tickets. While the $2 bettors - though betting less - weren't off as extreme. So in other words, try and crack down on the bookies - they're stealing all the big bettors

[randallscott35]

Well done Doug...although with politicians holding some of the strings in terms of takeouts I can't see them understanding the issue well enough to save racing in any meaningful way or return it to the pre-1940 period when it was a value...It may need to be a complete collapse of the industry and a reset needed to change the dynamics.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

although with politicians holding some of the strings in terms of takeouts I can't see them understanding the issue well enough

It seems that if the powers that be in racing want something from the politicians - maybe the easiest way to get it is in a package deal with a takeout increase?

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

It seems that if the powers that be in racing want something from the politicians - maybe the easiest way to get it is in a package deal with a takeout increase?

I think we have many years of the subsidy run around and VLTs to deal with before meaningful change.