One of the principal findings of the McKinsey & Company study presented last Sunday at the Jockey Club Roundtable is that handicapping and betting on horse racing can be intimidating to people who are not familiar with the processes. The McKinsey consultants showed a video clip of a man in his early-to-mid 20s trying to figure out how to place a bet on an ADW site (you can see it at the Jockey Club presentation that is available at their website). It took him about 45 minutes and he was still flummoxed. This is why the Jockey Club is funding a free-to-play practice site.
I have observed countless people who frequently buy lottery tickets and have rarely or never been to a racetrack. They might buy a pari-mutuel ticket on horse racing if it did not entail them going to a racetrack or opening an ADW account and if the potential payout was large enough. Never mind that their chances of winning were exceedingly slim. The slots areas of racinos would be naturals for selling big-payoff pari-mutuel tickets based mostly on chance rather than handicapping skill.
I have never suggested or recommended that racetracks change the present wagering format for experienced bettors. What I did suggest is that wagering options should be expanded to make them attractive to people who can’t or don’t want to handicap for various reasons. Any consumer product company is always looking to expand its product line to attract new segments of customers. Racing must not exclude the millions of people who will not wager on the sport if they have to handicap and cope with confusing betting requirements. What is routine to seasoned racehorse bettors is complex to the neophyte.
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