Edd Roggenkamp Op/Ed Response

In response to Dean Tower’s Op/Ed, which ran in Friday’s edition of the TDN:
Dean Towers makes some interesting points in his Op/Ed on the percentage splits between the host tracks and the OTB’s ADW’s and the other betting formats. Simply put I believe his point is that betting formats that provide a good and attractive venue for betting (physical or digital) and especially those that attract a new, vibrant or steady audience to horseracing should be rewarded. But, while his premise is both reasonable and logical, all too often in horse racing the system is rewarding formats for an experience that is more likely to drive customers away, than attract new ones. 
I have personally visited numerous OTB locations all across the nation over the last 20 years and in many cases the experience, ambience and quality of service was poor, and often bordered on being downright disgusting. Were I not a dyed in the wool racing fan already, and in need a place to vent my enthusiasm, I would not darken their door ever again. 

These include OTB’s in New York City (the old OTB) Albany and Batavia, NY, New Haven, CT, Mt. Pleasant and Hazel Park, MI, Pittsburgh, PA, Chicago, and Danville, IL, Grove City, Lebanon, and Cincinnati, OH, Des Moines, Iowa, Clarksville, IN, and several OTB’s at race tracks in Kentucky, and other states. Also, add to that visits to several horse books in Las Vegas. Only a few were physically appealing and only one or two do any kind of promotion, marketing or advertising to attract customers, old or new. 

A dirty room, a Formica booth, a broken chair, filthy restrooms, bad overpriced food and a surly staff is too often the norm. Few could match the ambience of a local sports bar. This will not attract and keep new customers, but this is the OTB model we have now. 

If rewarding a good service provider is appropriate, how should a poor (but legally state-approved monopoly) provider be punished? 

As for ADW’s I have several personal accounts. Convenience is the key here. They provide an easy and fast way to see races and bet in the comfort of my home office, but they do not wow or overwhelm me. Most are only on a par with the internet merchandise shopping sites I often utilize. I found the ADW’s, they did not find me. Their marketing is 90% rebate driven and obviously designed for existing horse players. Same bucks, just going into different pockets. 
Maybe ADW’s do have the ability to attract new players, but in the several years they have been in existence, they have not proven that. Racing handle remains stagnant, with no growth despite the advent of the ADW, and unfortunately ADW’s have not generated a whole new cult following like the one enjoyed by internet poker games. 

While I agree that there should be a way to reward formats that grow and attract new racing fans, racing needs to stop paying a high percentage fee to tired old formats that actually drive new customers away. 

Somehow our sport/business must find a fair-share way to fund the show–the actual race–because without proper funding the quality of the show will decline and with it so will the OTB’s and ADW’s. 

Edd Roggenkamp