Positive Trends Jump-Start Second Half of 2022

A week ago, I wrote about the 2022 season being on pace to award record purses but lamented that in the first half of the year the industry had not built on the pari-mutuel wagering gains of 2021.

Well, what a difference a week makes.

This month, racing certainly enjoyed one of its strongest stretches of "everyday" pari-mutuel wagering of the year thanks to a strong start to the Saratoga Race Course meeting, as well as new penny breakage in Kentucky allowing players to retain more of their winnings, and the continued success of smaller tracks taking advantage of race dates vacated by larger tracks.

We'll see how this all plays out in the final months of 2022, but the strong July suggests racing can turn around the flat pari-mutuel performance of the first half of the year in which handle was down 0.19%. Some might say that maintaining the performance of 2021—when pari-mutuel wagering on United States races spiked 11.8% compared with 2020—already is an accomplishment in a year with limited Triple Crown buzz, but keep in mind that in recent years racing has made gains beyond its biggest race days. 

Knowing that, it's a reasonable goal to grow pari-mutuel wagering a few percentage points this year and keep the momentum of 2021.

Reasons for optimism include the strong start to the Saratoga meeting. The first four days of racing there saw an 18% jump in all-sources handle to $106,401,827, with on-track handle up 18% to $17,401,827. 

"Fan interest and engagement with the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course is at an all-time high," New York Racing Association CEO and president Dave O'Rourke said. "We saw that on display throughout Opening Weekend presented by Runhappy, which generated record wagering handle and a 10% increase in paid attendance.

"Saratoga stands apart as a destination that continues to grow in popularity, and we thank the fans for their enthusiastic support of the summer meet. Beyond the gates, NYRA is pleased to play a central role in driving tourism and economic activity throughout upstate New York. We look forward to all that lies ahead this summer at the Spa."

It's a great start to the 40-day meet, and the one thing I'll add is that NYRA heavily markets this meeting. I think these types of numbers suggest that such marketing efforts pay off. In a sport that has virtually no national marketing campaign, such local efforts are desperately needed.

Speaking of marketing, Ellis Park (and the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation) did a nice job of getting the word out that it would be the first American track to offer penny breakage as Kentucky shifts to this pro-horseplayer approach in awarding payouts. In putting more money in players' pockets, Kentucky racing should expect increased churn as players put winnings back through the windows (or, more accurately these days, their advance-deposit wagering apps).

In recent years, racing also has vastly improved its scheduling. With NYRA shifting the Saratoga meet to five days a week in 2019 by vacating Mondays, tracks such as Colonial Downs, Finger Lakes, Horseshoe Indianapolis, and others have done a great job moving into that space. I like the added touch of moving some top races to these cards. The July 18 card at Colonial featured a pair of stakes for top turf sprinters, and Finger Lakes served up the New York Derby for state-bred 3-year-olds.

Marketing the sport, making the gambling product more competitive, and improving scheduling are all efforts that figure to give racing an opportunity to build on the wagering success of 2021.