Meadowlands to reinstate post time drag

[HarnessFan1981]

East Rutherford, NJ — Beginning with this weekend’s (May 16 and 17) live racing, The Meadowlands will revert back to the formula of sending the horses onto the track at 0 minutes to post and going to the gate approximately seven minutes later.

Heeding customer complaints regarding the practice of “dragging” post time out, as is the new normal at virtually all tracks, and going off at “0” resulted in a sharp decline in export handle. Among the lessons learned was that our CAW customers could not adjust, resulting in a large percentage of the lost handle.

This experiment also reinforced the fact we will need a significant marketing budget to accomplish our goal of getting young people to become customers.

Should we succeed in getting a casino, we would use those revenues to properly market the on track experience, in turn raising the on track handle.

[Chessington]

And if we’re not fortunate to get a casino, to all the horseman, good luck and go fuck yourselves for all the bullshit I put up with to keep the sport alive.

[pocketrocketwinner]

It is mind numbing to think that they publicly state they are reverting because the CAWs. I am speechless.

[Papillon]

the blaming CAWs is 100% a lie

[sledge hammer]

I think something is going on with the CAWs and them getting cut off from certain pools. The WPS pools have been decimateed...at a much higher ratio than the other pools.
On Saturday night most of the win pools were between $10,000-$20,000 which is just unheard of.
Friday even less.

[pocketrocketwinner]

I think something is going on with the CAWs and them getting cut off from certain pools. The WPS pools have been decimateed...at a much higher ratio than the other pools.
On Saturday night most of the win pools were between $10,000-$20,000 which is just unheard of.
Friday even less.

The caw model doesn't work if they have to bet before 2 mtp. So they back off and bet somewhere else. They win the battle and we all lose.

[Parked]

You will NEVER get young people to an event where they have to wait 25 + minutes between action.   When Gural finally gives up or goes on to the promised land,, the fat lady will sing…. She is humming now. 

[Harness Racing Revolution]

So Chicken Run 2026 is already canceled? 

[pocketrocketwinner]

You will NEVER get young people to an event where they have to wait 25 + minutes between action.   When Gural finally gives up or goes on to the promised land,, the fat lady will sing…. She is humming now.

If by some miracle they get new young people to the track, it won't take long for them to realize the product is grossly overpriced in the gaming space and never come back. If they land a casino and were flush with cash, why not take the opportunity to lower takeout before you waste millions to market an unconpetitive product?

[Kenny]

East Rutherford, NJ — Beginning with this weekend’s (May 16 and 17) live racing, The Meadowlands will revert back to the formula of sending the horses onto the track at 0 minutes to post and going to the gate approximately seven minutes later.

Heeding customer complaints regarding the practice of “dragging” post time out, as is the new normal at virtually all tracks, and going off at “0” resulted in a sharp decline in export handle. Among the lessons learned was that our CAW customers could not adjust, resulting in a large percentage of the lost handle.

This experiment also reinforced the fact we will need a significant marketing budget to accomplish our goal of getting young people to become customers.

Should we succeed in getting a casino, we would use those revenues to properly market the on track experience, in turn raising the on track handle.

They defiantly gave this plenty of time for a fair test and for people to adjust. I cannot wait until states start pulling the slots funding and watch the whole industry cry. Once Gural is out of the picture, any casino revenue will NOT be used to subsidize racing.

[stanetelman]

East Rutherford, NJ — Beginning with this weekend’s (May 16 and 17) live racing, The Meadowlands will revert back to the formula of sending the horses onto the track at 0 minutes to post and going to the gate approximately seven minutes later.

Heeding customer complaints regarding the practice of “dragging” post time out, as is the new normal at virtually all tracks, and going off at “0” resulted in a sharp decline in export handle. Among the lessons learned was that our CAW customers could not adjust, resulting in a large percentage of the lost handle.

This experiment also reinforced the fact we will need a significant marketing budget to accomplish our goal of getting young people to become customers.

Should we succeed in getting a casino, we would use those revenues to properly market the on track experience, in turn raising the on track handle.

They have absolutely no choice but to restore the drag time and the CAW's.  They are getting crushed.

[seen2much]

It was a matter of time. There really isn't much difference. They put up 7 less MTP & drag.

[Brkn Headpole]

So if the margins on CAW handle is 2% and the blended margins on the rest is 7%. (host track fees etc), you net more off the other handle than the CAW handle plus you are rigging the game for them.

Sounds like a faulty business model with renegotiations needed.

[Mohawk mac]

I admit to being a grumpy old man.  The sport I loved from 1966 through pre-COVID no longer exists.  I still enjoy watching races and betting a little, but between drug trainers, greedy track owners, crooked politicians, excessive drag and CAWS, my "love" is somewhat compromised.

There are literally dozens of reasons why tracks are closing and people are losing interest.  I won't waste your time listing them.  You know.

Thankfully I'll be dead before harness racing.  But maybe not by much.

[JT]

I read an article last weekend that Mohawk had beaten Meadowlands handle substantially 4 out of 5 or 5 out of 6 cards which is unheard of.. so the common conclusion is some or more of the CAW money went from Meadowlands to Mohawk. I've said this on here before, but when I was a teenager and would go to Scioto they would have some of the bigger races at Meadowlands in Scioto's program to be able to watch and wager on. It was a big deal for us Midwesterners to be able to do that in the eighties and nineties. It's really sad with how far they have fallen with lower purses, less race dates, amateur races every card, not a great sires stakes program etc..