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Cant see the betfair terminals catching on.
If people are that desperate to get on in running chances are they’ll use there phones.
All for technology advancement, but only if its for the majority not the minority.
Quote from Paul OIf there were not sufficient terminals to meet demand, how would punters be stopped from hogging them? If they were hogged how would the issues of angry punters queuing be dealt with?
You would get around this by hiring the terminals out at whatever price the market could stand. Let people hog them if they pay the going rate.
I can see the day when all racecourse stands are seated and each seat has a ‘fold-over’ terminal so you can sit, watch the action and place your bets- all without leaving your seat. You could even give people the option (via touch screen of course) of watching the action on their personal monitor.
Perhaps then even Harry could be persuaded to sit down.
Touch screen could also give info on horses weights as they leave the paddock, going stick readings from various parts of the course, sectional timings, etc.
Charge for the privilige and Bob’s your uncle, it’s all self financing. Then, if it works, take the exchanges into public hands and use the profits to finance the future of racing. Everybody then happy.
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I can see the day when all racecourse stands are seated and each seat has a ‘fold-over’ terminal so you can sit, watch the action and place your bets- all without leaving your seat. You could even give people the option (via touch screen of course) of watching the action on their personal monitor.
"Cormack" i cant believe i never thought of that! Super idea!
To those who argue that the average racegoer or those out with the lads or girls won’t use betting exchanges the only reason they won’t at the moment is because they don’t know they exist.
You go racing and you see a) bookmakers and b) Tote booths. I saw plenty of people looking at the Betfair stand and the IR and decimal odds at Haydock for the Betfair Chase.
When people know they exist they’ll use them and as Thedarkknight and Shadow Leader have said it will be the end for racecourse bookmakers (many of whom struggle to make it pay as it is),
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I can see the day when all racecourse stands are seated and each seat has a ‘fold-over’ terminal so you can sit, watch the action and place your bets- all without leaving your seat. You could even give people the option (via touch screen of course) of watching the action on their personal monitor.
"Cormack" i cant believe i never thought of that! Super idea!
I’m not sure that a few dogtracks, or USA horseracing stadia, would entirely agree?
If we go the US route we’ll have a few horses running around and 200 slot machines set up to finance decent prizes for the horses.
If you want that then fair enough but tbh it’s not for me.
Why did Harry Findlay stand throughout the whole interview. Over to you amateur psychologists and body language experts.
"Himself" i believe he stood in front of his courtiers like "King Henry IX"
the 9th signifying "Denmans" 9th chase victory being the Gold Cup!
nothing to do with the amount of wives he"s had! He also described me as a Genius for surviving 25yrs of gambling! Top man! Shame he supports
"Spurs"!If we go the US route we’ll have a few horses running around and 200 slot machines set up to finance decent prizes for the horses.
If you want that then fair enough but tbh it’s not for me.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting we go for US-style "racinos", IS, just some up-to-date technology to assist those who wish to make use of it. Of course racinos would be disastrous – the sport in America is dying a not-very-slow death because of them.
Irish Stamp has hit the nail on the head – it is hard enough for oncourse bookies to make it pay, this will pretty much finish them off.
Equitrack – it’s not so much losing the £2 punter that will affect the oncourse books, it’s more the loss of real money in the ring that will hit them.
Of course what it will also mean is that if the real money is removed from the ring – what little of it there is left – then the SPs are devalued since they won’t really mean a lot as they’re trading on little money, and the demise of the SP as we know it now has then started. Which all leads to jobs being lost – many of them.
I was being slightly tongue in cheek.
I’m sure the very able clerks and racecourse management up and down the country give great thought to what they can do to improve the experience for the racing public and great strides have been made but competition in the leisure sector gets tougher and racing has to keep up (and move ahead if possible).
Betting, I would suggest, isn’t what gets the punters (sorry Lydia) through the turnstiles and onto the racecourse. If that was the primary motivation then people would stay at home. The primary motivation for most, barring the pros who would be in a vast minority, is to have a bloody good day out. Yes, that would be expected to include having a bet and yes, having ‘real’ bookies is part of what people expect and enjoy when they go racing so we should endeavour to keep that.
People like watching horses racing. They like being around horses and they like the atmosphere of the racecourse. They like a drink, they like being part of a thronging but not too thronging crowd. They like to have a wee bet. They like to get in and out of the place easily, they like placing a bet to be easy, they like getting a drink to be easy, they like the food to be good and will pay a little more for food and drink but don’t want robbing. They like the toilets to be clean and they don’t really want to queue up. They like to get dressed up.
They like a bit of a build up to the racing, like Lydia says. Play it up. Have the commentators and announcers whipping the whole thing up. Sometimes the racecourse callers and public announcers are droll and conservative. Professional enough but don’t have the oooomph.
Racing needs to think out of the box a little.
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This isn’t Field of Dreams, Irish – if you build it they won’t necessarily come.
Exchanges have existed for long enough that everyone, whether a regular punter or otherwise, knows that they are there, and if that is indeed the case then they will likely have tried them. If they’ve tried them and didn’t like them, offering the opportunity to use them on course is hardly likely to turn their head. If they haven’t tried them at all, why suddenly start because of a sexily packaged terminal on a racecourse? Does the novelty only grab you when you can make your fingers numb and get 6/4 (over the general 5/4) at the same time?
When I go to a football or rugby match, or a speedway meeting, I don’t eat ‘any old sh*te’ simply because it’s there. Nor do I, necessarily, waltz off to the new, shiny, sweet-smelling trailer when I know what I like, where it is and how much it will cost me.
The only people who would ‘benefit’ from an on-course link to Betfair are those who likely already have an on-course link to Betfair. The average punter, whether they have discovered exchanges or not, isn’t going to want to pay a fee to avoid the bookmakers, and anyone with a mobile phone can bet online anyway. Hell, I can ring my mate up and get him to do the betting for me – why carry cash around a crowded racecourse at all?
The fact is that it’s not beyond any of us to go racing and still place our bets off-course. If that is already a reality, how are a few terminals offered at a premium rate going to change anything? And how happy will people be using their debit and credit cards, assuming their accounts need funding, in such a public place?
If the facility is there, then people have another option. And that’s all it would be – competition.
It would be far better for the racing game if the Machine were removed from every course, rather than its use being encouraged with talk of terminals at the track.
Most of the on-course inside-traders and arbers ( including media people, technological people, and bookmaker/arbers,and "other staff") are using cell-phones and computers now, anyway, while owners and trainers are just as likely to be in off-course betting shops with their phones ablaze.
If Racing seriously wished to raise its public profile it would need do no more than systemically and repeatedly invite – Newspaper editors, Columnist, Radio Presenters, Radio Producers, Script Writers for Eastenders, Emmerdale etc. to an all expenses paid day out at the races. Fine Wine, Food, Free Bets etc.
Any regular listener to TalkSport will know that Racing’s profile on the station is relatively high and extremely favourable. In part this is due to Alan Brazil (Tommo has a two minute spot on his show every morning) and also the fact Bookmakers sponsor (is that the right term?) a number of programmes on the station. However, also on many occasions throughout the year shows will be broadcast or they will take live reports from race meetings (Cheltenham obviously, Paddy Power Gold Meeting, The Hennessy, Aintree, The July Meeting, Epsom along with a few nights on the AW.)
Now, don’t get wrong the quality of coverage for a racing fan isn’t brilliant but what is brilliant is that Racing is promoted as a fun and enjoyable day out and is mentioned in such terms by the presenters.
Imagine John Humphreys, Victoria Derbyshire, Jeremy Paxo or your favourite newspaper columnist mentioning a few times what a great day they had at the races (not that **** Moyles tho).
We all know how powerful the media can be you’ve got to look after these people and they will look after Racing.
If the facility is there, then people have another option. And that’s all it would be – competition.
Nothing wrong with competition but when you aren’t treating all competition equally then it’s a different matter.
Look at the pitch costs for bookmakers yet Ascot etc. would let Betfair set up free of charge.
Cost should be proportionate to income (or at least in some way linked). As I’ve already said bookmakers on course find it hard enough to pay as it is without taking all the big money and shoving it all on Betfair. At 25k or so a pitch for a poor AW track with hardly any punters the only way they’ll make anything like that back is through the real cash that still goes into the ring.
If Ascot are planning on letting Betfair set up at the track I don’t think it’s unfair for them to charge them ten times what the bookies have to pay given the relative size of the companies.
If one was to attempt to maximise profits from horse race betting the last place to go to would be to a race meeting.
If betting exchanges are to be allowed onto racecourses the first thing that will come under severe pressure are those bookmakers such as BD who ‘bet away’ ie take bets from other meetings.
Despite all modern technology the 3/1 the worker shouts into the walkie talkie from the betting hall from the live show at an away meeting always comes over at the other end as 5/2!
A 6/1 transmitted ends up the other end of the walkie talkie as 5/1I have never worked that one out!
What is wrong with bookmakers ceasing to exist on course? Of course, i’d prefer if this doesn’t happen (for nostalgia reasons) but they have no divine riight to stand in the way of fair competition, especially if the levy contribution can be recouped from Betfair on course.
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