Tracks reluctant to spend money for HDTV broadcasts

[Alan07]

Only five racetracks – Keeneland, and the four tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. – have purchased high-definition television cameras and the equipment necessary to broadcast in the HD format, while only a handful of betting locations have invested in the equipment necessary to view the HD signals. That’s a woeful number when compared with other sports, which have embraced high-definition television to the delight of their fans and customers, despite the higher costs.

Racing, meanwhile, continues to struggle with the expense required to transmit in HD. On Tuesday, Robert Evans, the chief executive officer of Churchill Downs Inc., said that Churchill spent $1.2 million at each of its tracks to upgrade cameras and equipment for high-definition broadcasting, and it currently spends $750,000 a year to enable high-definition transmission of the signals to 42 betting locations. That’s out of 1,600 betting locations worldwide. Evans said that he didn’t know why he was throwing that $750,000 “down a hole,” and Roberts said that he has a meeting with Evans next week in which he expects Churchill to pull the plug on its HD transmissions.

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