Loss of Racing, Fans Could be 'Devastating' to Saratoga

The start of the Saratoga Race Course season may be 2 1/2 months away, but for businesses and residents in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., that seems like an eternity these days.

Like all corners of the world, life in Saratoga County has been intensely and, in some cases, tragically altered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the realities of social distancing.

Though Saratoga County has suffered just 346 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths—figures dramatically different from the 165,000 cases and 12,774 fatalities in New York City—the pandemic could take a heavy toll on the area's economy in the coming months.

"The economic and tourism agencies in the county are working together, and while we're looking at worst-case scenarios, we're hoping for the best," said Todd Shimkus, the president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.

Though Saratoga has become a vibrant year-round hub for dining and entertainment in the Capital Region of New York, it is the area's famed summer offerings and activities that have made the town a magnet for visitors and continues to make it prosperous.

While safety and saving lives are the overriding concern during the pandemic, economics cannot be ignored. Tourism had a $979 million impact on Saratoga County in 2018, with Saratoga Race Course and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center accounting for more than a third of that total, and the specter of a summer without racing or concerts, or even racing without fans, has local business leaders and residents on edge.

The racetrack alone accounts for 2,600 jobs and more than $237 million in annual economic impact across the nine-county Capital Region.

"This is a tourist town," said Barry Potoker, the marketing director for Roohan Realty in Saratoga Springs. "If the racetrack and SPAC can't open this summer, it would be devastating to this community."

SPAC has already announced the cancellation of two Live Nation concerts at the venue: Celtic Woman (June 7) and the Zac Brown Band (June 13).

Fasig-Tipton also shifted its two August yearling sales from Saratoga—The Saratoga Sale and the New York-Bred Select Yearling Sale—to Kentucky in September.

Though there has been no racing in New York since March 15, the New York Racing Association has not backed off its intentions to start the 2020 season at Saratoga as planned July 16 and race through Labor Day. Yet what happens in the next 2 1/2 months rests in the hands of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who did not offer much optimism about the possibility of a racing season with fans at the Spa during his April 29 COVID-19 briefing.

"You can't open an attraction that could bring people from across the state to that attraction and overwhelm a region,'' Cuomo said.

Cuomo has said the first phase of reopening New York State would begin May 15 with construction and manufacturing businesses.

The second phase will involve a business-by-business analysis of need versus risk.

NYRA officials are anxious to resume racing at Belmont Park without fans as soon as possible and are willing to then move to Saratoga, even if that requires racing behind closed doors.

"NYRA is seeking to resume live racing at Belmont Park in the absence of fans, and we have prepared operating plans that follow the same model for Saratoga," NYRA spokesperson Pat McKenna said. "These plans prioritize the health and safety of employees, horsemen, and the backstretch community and include a broad array of risk mitigation strategies developed according to the most updated heath guidance."

Among the NYRA protocols now in place are that backstretch workers must wear a facial mask while on the grounds and maintain social distancing guidelines. Workers who do not live on the backstretch and licensed horsemen who enter the grounds are subject to temperature scans taken by a trained EMT. Signage in English and Spanish is also posted with information about social distancing, hand-washing techniques, and a hotline to call if workers feel the onset of coronavirus symptoms. All efforts are spearheaded and directed by NYRA's Preparedness and Response Plan Committee.

Yet the possibility of losing the 1,056,053 fans who flocked to the racetrack in 2019 is creating financial fears in a city that has already felt the sting of its 200 restaurants and bars reduced to take-out orders, and hotel occupancy dropping by 38.5% in March from its 2019 figures.

"There's been some cancellations for the summer, and hotels are way down now," Shimkus said. "The advance bookings are down slightly, but that can change."

Kevin Tuohy, the general manager of the 168-room Holiday Inn on Broadway in Saratoga, said summer bookings are off by roughly 10%.

"We've had mass cancellations in March, April, and May, but for July and August we're pacing at about 10% below where we would normally be," said Tuohy, who added that there are no plans at the moment to reduce room rates during the racing season. "Our clients seem to be cautiously optimistic, and they are excited about the prospect of enjoying the track and are looking at canceling as a last-minute decision. Yet if there's no fans, from my viewpoint, that hurts my livelihood, and many other businesses have the same concern about what will happen."

Aside from the impact on hotels, restaurants, and shops, some Saratoga residents pin a significant part of their annual income on renting their homes for all or part of the 40-day meet or converting their yards into parking lots. Prices for a summer home near the racetrack can easily reach $2,000 a week. The Roohan Realty website lists one home for $60,000 for the meet and $10,000 a week, and five others are priced at $30,000 or more for the meet.

"Seasonal rentals have slowed significantly because the race meet is up in the air," Potoker said. "NYRA still feels they can open July 16, but with that being said, who knows if they can. Most times, people pay up front for rentals, and now people are wondering what happens if there's no racing or no fans allowed."

The summer outlook for Saratoga took a hit this week with the site switch for the Fasig-Tipton sales, which bring hundreds of buyers and sellers to the area who would not normally travel to the city. The Saratoga Sale usually takes place two days after the Whitney Stakes (G1), and Shimkus said that weekend now generates more business for the city than even the centerpiece Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) weekend.

"With the sale and the Whitney, that weekend has over the last few years become THE week at Saratoga in terms of business done here. It's bigger than the Travers weekend. Maybe not attendance-wise, but business-wise," Shimkus said. "We're disappointed by losing the sales, but health comes first and that's something the entire nation and world is dealing with, and we're not immune to it."

James Gagliano, the president and COO of The Jockey Club, said The Jockey Club's Round Table on Matters Pertaining to Racing (Aug. 16) and OwnerView National Owners Conference (July 19-22) are still scheduled to be held in Saratoga as he awaits "insights about scheduling from NYRA."

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame induction ceremony is also still set for Aug. 7 at the Fasig-Tipton pavilion, though communications director Brien Bouyea said the museum and Hall of Fame are "monitoring the situation and having internal discussions about the best way to proceed in regard to our summer events. We will be following all of the guidance and orders of medical professionals and elected officials." 

While there's so much uncertainty about what will and will not be possible in the summer, what's far more certain is that any segment of the business world must adjust to a new normal. In Saratoga, that means finding ways to make people feel comfortable about visiting the region once restrictions are lifted.

"It's one thing to get businesses on Broadway in Saratoga open. It's another to convince people that we're doing everything we can to make it safe for them to come back," Shimkus said. "We're doing a lot in terms of recovery planning so we can promote that Saratoga is a safe and a healthy place to visit."

To help in that effort, Shimkus said the Chamber of Commerce is working with Mind Genomics, a local behavioral economics advisory firm, to circulate a survey about what will ease the fears of consumers.

"Mind Genomics does market and consumer analysis using big data, and their owner lives here. They approached us about working together, and they will do a consumer survey for us on what we need to know from consumers who have come here and haven't come here, some for work, some for leisure," Shimkus said. "It will tell us what it will take in order for them to feel comfortable coming here and to feel safe. By June, we can have some good information that we can pass along to our local businesses and tell them what consumers have told us about what they need to do. It will be groundbreaking for us. This will help us in the new world we're in because a lot of trends will not go away."

Shimkus said he's also planning to distribute much-needed safety supplies for smaller businesses in the area.

"We're building support for small business recovery kits. We're looking for local sources of cloth masks and hand sanitizers so that we can put together packages for every small business and restaurant so that they will have the equipment they need to keep people safe," he said. "The good news is that we have companies here who are making cloth face masks and hand sanitizers, so we don't have to go to China for them. We have enough to start for two to three weeks, and if it's working, we can go back to those local sources again for more."

Shimkus also expects testing to become commonplace at gatherings of large groups of people.

"The Saratoga City Center has already bought thermometers, so I know it's their intention to say to organizers of events there that they are going to check everyone coming into their events. They want everyone to feel safe, be it a speaker, guest, or worker," he said.

Local hotels, which have enjoyed steady annual increases in business during the past few years, are also becoming hypersensitive to sanitizing and creating social distancing.

"I have 10,000 square feet of meeting space in our hotel," Tuohy said, "and I'm working with our corporate offices on ways to incorporate social distancing in our meetings and our events. We're preparing to take temperatures, and we're relying on the corporate brand. They are providing a lot of new protocols for cleaning and sanitizing door handles, elevator buttons, keycards, all those things. We will be rearranging furniture in the lobby so there's distancing. 

"While rentals like Airbnb do not have to adhere to guidelines or have health inspections, I hope people will feel more comfortable coming to brands they know, such as the Holiday Inns, Marriotts, and Hiltons of the world."

What could also help Saratoga in the long run is that the bulk of visitors arrive by car rather than mass transportation.

"What we have going for us is that we are a drive market," Shimkus said. "Most people reach us by car. They are not getting on planes, trains, subways. People will feel safer in their own car, traveling with the people they want to be with, and that bodes well for us."

Mindful of the healing mineral baths that made Saratoga famous and popular, Shimkus is hopeful that the city's three H's will hold the key to an economic recovery from the pandemic in the coming months.

"When you come to Saratoga," he said, "we have a sign that says 'Saratoga: Health, History, and Horses.' Our history is that health always came first, and that's what led people to first settle here and brought them here as tourists generations ago. We have to figure out how to promote all of the great health-related amenities we have beyond the great entertainment and racing we have here. We're 11 weeks away from the start of the racing meet, and we all have to hope we can go from nothing to something in terms of activity. I'm doing all I can do to not give in to the fears."