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No, I don't think they are truly thriving-----because it's NYRA, LOL-----however, it is reflective of client/audience potential. Yes, it's a summer meet, a special meet, a unique meet, and so on. But, they raced 45 days. 4 days a week (Thursday through Sunday), then 5 days a week (Wednesday through Sunday). The all-in handle for the 45 days was over $900 million. Some may say "average" is meaningless, however, the average daily handle was over $20 million. While this was the most racing days they've had at a meet, I don't think that means "let's have more" LOL.
On a separate note-----ironically, NYRA announced that there was "a drop of $41,326,368, or 24.2 percent, in play from computer assisted wagering (CAW) players, according to NYRA. Retail play was $775.7 million, a 10.2 percent increase from last summer's Saratoga meet. Also ironic, which I think is a good thing, it was announced that NYRA is expected to go back to the traditional 40-day Saratoga meet (run over eight weeks) in 2027. Sure, after next year, they are going to consider spreading the 40 days out over a longer period of time (10 weeks), but that's far off.
Point being, I think there are plenty of wagering dollars out there. Yes, it's for t-breds, I get that. But I think the answer is-----which track management never embraces-----for reinventing, revamping, purging, and getting back on track, I think there should be less tracks and less races. Until you right the ship. Management will not embrace that. But, remember, if you lose money on every sale, every race, whatever the case may be.....you can't make it up on volume. LOL.
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