Rosecroft Raceway has announced wagering has increased by 88% over the first eight days of racing this year. On March 10, a Tuesday night, Rosecroft had its highest handle since June 6, 2008.
Now, Rosecroft is still far from major league with the handle on March 10 being $284,952, but a massive increase is still an increase. What is Rosecroft's secret? Product placement.
The Maryland harness track made the decision to race on Tuesdays and have managed to get on TVG's schedule's in the evening where there is little competition, giving Rosecroft access to gamblers they normally wouldn't have. Product placement is a huge success, but with only three tracks racing on Tuesday evening, the amount of racing product available is closer to the demand.
Depending on how the USTA sets up their racing network, it could be beneficial to those tracks being shown. The biggest problem standardbred racing has is visibility. Being shown on a harness racing network (ideally coupled with wagering) will give the track visibility and horse players will support it. No, they may not bet $1,000 a race, but $100 is possible,. Once handle increases, gamblers will increase their wagering as pools grow,
Tracks need to get together and coordinate a schedule to maximize their visibility. It is simple; increased visibility equals more wagering, getting lost in the crowd means stagnation or decreased wagering. If this new racing network is established properly, with cooperation and coordination, among the tracks, everyone wins.
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