ADWs

After a pandemic-stricken year in which ADW revenues hammered California industry coffers, the first month of 2021 brought with it a flurry of budgetary and purse account developments in response. First came the announcement from the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) that they had reached an agreement with TVG, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, The Stronach Group's 1/ST Racing, and NYRA to inject some $15 million into the purse fund over the course of two years. In response, a subsidiary of the gaming corporation Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) filed a...

Last week, the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) announced a roughly $15-million, two-year "purse enhancement" program as part of an agreement with TVG, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and The Stronach Group's 1/ST Racing. The reason for the new program is simple: an unprecedented betting shift toward ADW platforms over the past 11 months has hit the California purse account hard. Not just the purse account. This shift has similarly clobbered several key industry programs that rely heavily on wagering made at brick and mortar venues. The Southern California Stabling...

Most, I'm sure, will have seen the television advertisement for an online dating site that's as on-the-nose as a well-placed left hook. In it, Satan falls in love with the year 2020, played by a hellraiser masquerading as the girl-next-door. As flaming asteroids pelt the earth, Satan and 2020 watch on while lamenting the imminent turn of the calendar. "I just don't want this year to end," says Satan, wistfully. Wistful nostalgia is hardly something many will be feeling when they eventually look back over this annus horribilis--yet somehow, it...

Like an overzealous professor, the pandemic has taken a bright red marker to the status quo, with the racing industry very much on the receiving end of this economic revisionism. When it comes to California alone, startling betting patterns have emerged with potentially serious ramifications for the long-term sustainability of the sport in the state--that's according to handle and purse data from the first eight months of the past three years put together for the TDN by the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC). Among the key takeaways is this: While...

The following is an abridged version of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation's #FreeDataFriday entry for this week. The full version can be read at this link. Here is a simple question: How much revenue does a horse race produce for the horsemen running horses in that race? The answer is incredibly complex, and in many jurisdictions, almost impossible to discern. A publication from the Thoroughbred Owners of California in 2016 offers a glimpse into an answer, at least for races run in that state. While these numbers are likely to have...

The Thoroughbred Idea Foundation issued a paper last week showing just how much of the pie goes to ADWs, and how little to purses, in California. Pat Cummings of the TIF joins us to talk about it.

We cannot say this any simpler: American racing does not have a fair and equitable split of the takeout dollar, it has overly and foolishly relied on alternate sources of gaming to supplement purses. So, we remind you--whether you are for or against a 'federal bill,' a Jockey Club member, a commercial breeder, a small syndicate member or anything in between--the status quo is untenable. Something must change. The economics for the sustainability of racing are all askew. ADWs aren't bad--our business REALLY needs them, particularly now. Their percentage of...