NYRA is pulling out all the stops to market Rachel Alexandra in the Mother Goose. There was a time when this type of marketing effort held promise but these promotions have disappointed year after year. The mainstream public has proven that time after time that outside of the hardcore niche audience they are completely disinterested with non-triple crown racing. The local population around Belmont would rather be at the mall sending more dollars to the Chinese treasury than betting on hard and confusing horse races. If it is not a mainstream media triple crown race a free admission or pink rubber band is not enough to lure the boys or the girls to the paddock.
Last year NYRA pulled out all the stops with Curlin at Saratoga just like NYRA is pulling out all the stops with Rachel. Instead of a huge attendance surge for Curlin theere was disapointment. In fact there was a Saturday last year without a graded stakes race, people lamented that NYRA that ruined squandered a great Saturday in a prime part of the meet. Suprisingly that afterthought of a racecard had more attenadnace than Curlin's heavily marketed run in the Woodward. The people have proven that racing is not on their radar I am expecting less that 10K for Belmont on Saturday. However it will be 10K of the best sports fans in the world, hopefully I am wrong, the masses show up in droves leaving the malls and the ballpark clip joints empty.
Power cap- existential handicapping
1 comment:
Can you think of any marketing campaign that could bring folks new to horse racing to the track? If these horse-focused campaigns don't work, is there anything that will?
My general impression of Triple Crown popularity is (1) it's easy to understand and is broadcast on major sports networks and (2) people who actually attend the track on those days treat it as a giant tailgate/party. I went to the Belmont Stakes in 2005 with a number of Long Island locals, and believe me, I was the only one among 'em there for the horses--everyone else was interested in the beer.
Post a Comment