Controversy After Santa Anita Increases Box Prices

by T.D. Thornton

Santa Anita Park will be charging a premium to sit in the track’s most coveted areas adjacent to the finish line and winner’s circle this season, and the notification has rankled longtime clubhouse box holders who feel slighted at both the price increase and the way the changes have been announced and implemented. 

Track management counters that the new policies are completely in line with the way premium seating is handled at other venues, and that the changes are based on enhancing the overall experience at Santa Anita, where the best seats in the house sometimes remain vacant for days at a stretch. 

Shortly after the Breeders’ Cup, subscribers received renewal packets in the mail accompanied by a letter in which Santa Anita president Tom Ludt cited a renewed “emphasis of energy on the finish line” as the primary reason for the repackaging of the box seats at a price that nearly triples the cost to longtime horsemen and customers. 

The changes sparked a counter-letter from Thoroughbred Owners of California president Joe Morris that called the move a “flawed and a serious mistake.” 

Ludt agreed to meet with several hundred TOC members at a Dec. 3 forum to discuss the changes, but 90 minutes of debate only led to acrimonious accusations of unfairness on the part of the Stronach Group, which owns Santa Anita. 
Ben Bollinger, who has subscribed to a five-seat Section A clubhouse box for the last 40 seasons as both a horse owner and a racing fan, said he was asked by a group of trainers to articulate their concerns at the meeting. 

“I’d have to say it was the largest meeting I’ve ever seen at Santa Anita in all my years there,” Bollinger said. “Please believe me when I tell you, in my case and for all the box-holders around me, it has nothing to do with money. It was the way they approached it and what they said in that letter. This is absolutely wrong. It’s a situation where a corporate structure takes advantage of the people who have supported it all these years, and I will not be part of it.” 

Bruce Headley, who has been training since 1959 and for decades has been invited to sit in a finish-line box that descendants of noted owner Ray Bell have owned for three generations, called the changes “a kick in the head,” adding that Santa Anita has “alienated all the horsemen and all the people that put on the races.” 

Ludt said he was dismayed that his attempts to have a back-and-forth dialogue with the box holders disintegrated into repeated demands for Santa Anita to abandon the price increases, and that other accommodations the track is willing to make have been drowned out in the discord. 

“We’re trying to eliminate the perception that we’re chasing people away,” Ludt said. “I mean, that’s the last thing that we’re trying to accomplish. It’s impossible in a letter, it’s impossible at a meeting, and it’s impossible even in this article to completely cover all this. But the emphasis is this: We’ve put a ton of money into our facility because we’re gambling on putting the excitement back into at-the-track racing. We feel we really need to emphasize for those that come, we want them to sit in the best seats in the house.” 

To understand why the repackaging went into effect, it is important to note that Bollinger, Headley and Ludt all agree on one matter: With the exception of about eight or 10 important days in the racing season, attendance in the box seats is embarrassingly sparse. 

“I’m not joking. Sometimes on Thursdays and Fridays there are only six or eight of us there in the entirety of sections A and B,” Bollinger said. 

“We’ve got arguably the best seats in America in terms of the [mountain] view and viewing the races,” Ludt said. Since taking over as the track’s president last April, he has been trying to come up with solutions as to why these coveted seats remain empty. “We want the energy on a Thursday and Friday to be right there at the winner’s circle. If you’ve got five or six thousand people there, why scatter them among 40,000 seats?” 

One reason the best seats in the house go unused, Ludt said, is that the price point has traditionally been low enough to encourage subscriptions, but not high enough to make box-holders think they are giving up something of value if they decide not to come. 

“If you hold season tickets at the Lakers in the lower level, the days you don’t go, you give you tickets away because you want someone to sit there,” Ludt said. “I’m not saying we’re the L.A. Lakers, but we want you to feel the same way. If you’re going to buy your box and you’re not going to come, try to give your tickets away so somebody will be sitting in that box.” 

Ludt explained that under the new plan, there will be three tiers of subscriptions: Five-seat finish-line boxes have risen from roughly $3,750 to $9,375. Box-holders who don’t want to pay the increase have the option of moving to “premium” boxes between the sixteenth pole and the wire ($5,250) or boxes at the sixteenth pole for the same $3,750 they were previously paying to sit at the wire. He noted that unlike most other tracks, these costs include the price of admission, and there is no mark-up for special days during the 130-day season. 

Ludt said that by way of comparison, when he was president of Vinery Farm, he had to endure a waiting list to purchase a non-finish wire box at Saratoga, where the cost was $7,200 for a 40-day meet. 

Ludt also pointed out that many box holders are unaware of other accommodations Santa Anita is offering. Even if subscribers don’t re-up, the track is offering everyone who previously owned a finish line box to have their old seats for the Dec. 26 Opening Day card for just $50, the same price point at which Santa Anita will be selling the boxes to walk-ups during the remainder of the season. 

And there are additional perks. Approximately 25 of the 78 finish line boxes will be retained for horsemen, who get first privilege on those seats 72 hours in advance of race days for $50. Also, Santa Anita is keeping the very front row of section A boxes—about 12 boxes total—available for free to horsemen who just walk up and show their credentials to the usher on a first-come basis. 

“So if you only come 10 times, and you’re a regular horse owner, I’ve just saved you a lot of money,” Ludt said. “It’s just not going to have your name on the box and you won’t be in the exact same spot every time you come.” 
Bollinger said he appreciates the track’s desire to infuse energy into the box seats, but still thinks Santa Anita could have gone about it differently. 

“Many of us stood up and gave them some ideas of what we thought could be done, and it was like what we said fell on deaf ears,” Bollinger said. “They are not interested. They will not listen. They are going to do this whether we like it or not. It’s imperative for them to understand that not only do we come to the races, but that we bring many new guests to the races. Our point was, why don’t you let us help you get done what you wish to get done? They were not interested in that. It’s really a sad commentary on what’s happened since Frank Stronach came in.” 

Headley rattled off the names of horsemen who will not be renewing their box seating, and the list sounded like a Who’s Who of California racing. Ludt admitted that so far, only about 50% of the finish line box holders have re-upped. 
“People don’t realize we’ve put $3.5 million dollars into that area to renovate it. That does come with it,” Ludt said. “You start putting money into [improving premium seating] and everybody expects it to be perfect, yet they don’t want to pay for it. Our emphasis is, we want those seats occupied. 

“This is where I get so frustrated of being accused of being arrogant. We believe that what we’re doing is right, so I have to be proud. We think we’ve got to grind it out. It’s not going to be easy. We’re not saying we’ve got it all figured out, but we’re going to try our damndest. Everyone says, ‘Well Tom, nobody [among casual fans] wants those seats. But the last 10 years we haven’t owned them, so we don’t know that. Once we start marketing them and [if] people don’t come, then you might be right. But give me a year or two to try.” 

Bollinger said that some of his friends have gone ahead and paid the price increase to keep their seats “because it’s their whole social base.” But he won’t. For the first time in 38 years, he plans not to attend Opening Day. 

“It really breaks my heart that it happened. But I’m 76, so maybe it’s time to go in another direction,” Bollinger said. 
Ludt admitted he’s put himself under the gun to make sure his new seating plan does not backfire. 

“There’s no doubt about it. Truthfully, yes, there’s pressure,” Ludt said. “But we’ve got to be realistic. We’ll market them, we’ll push them. But I’m going to be very cautious the first few months about making sure that when [former] season box-holders want a box for the day, I’m going to make sure they get one.