by Bob Carson

Editor’s Note: The USTA website is pleased to present freelance writer Bob Carson and his popular “Outside the Box” features. This monthly series is a menu of outlandish proposals presented with a wink — but the purpose behind them is serious. The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.

“I don’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of old ones.” — John Cage

Bob Carson

Dear Jeff,

Stepping forward to purchase the Meadowlands in slot-less New Jersey shows either stunning vision or borderline insanity. Time will tell, but everyone in the sport is hoping for the former. The Meadowlands negotiations made for great theater, a real cliffhanger. Watching you attempt to plant harness racing seeds in what was on course to be a barren wasteland will be fascinating.

Many of us are curious as to what you have in mind. Who is your target audience? Are you playing to the base, traditional harness racing fans, or are you looking hard at those elusive new players? Maybe you have your eye on audiences like families, the social network crowd, the huddled masses or aristocratic elites. Undoubtedly, any customer with a pulse and a purse will be welcome, but designing a facility that suits everyone will be like trying to knit a sweater for an octopus.

Frankly, I’m worried about people like me. We traditionalists are staying home. We still enjoy harness racing, we still enjoy wagering, but schlepping out to the racetrack on a regular basis is a hassle. The world has changed. The racetrack experience we are all familiar with is running on empty. To get us to physically return to the harness racetrack will be like getting Charlie Sheen into a monastery; it’s possible, but a lot of changes will be necessary.

Now, there are no foolproof designs, especially when you are trying to please fools like us; but let me drop in a few thoughts.

Make sure we still have the option of walking down to the apron and getting close to the horses. Don’t build a huge mausoleum; we want to feel like we are part of a lively crowd of smart people — even if we ain’t. Give use spacious seats, plenty of leg room and a little breathing room. And here’s a personal request, I’d appreciate a fold down work table that pops out of my armrest, like the ones I used to nap on in college lecture halls.

Autumn Ryan graphic

Now I go wacky. Skip the tote board, tellers, admission people and the concession stands. I have five minutes while waiting for my therapist, so allow me to deliberate on a fantasy race track.

When we approach your new track, we only have one stop to make. In the concourse, we report to a kiosk where we are handed a tablet, not an aspirin or mind altering drug, a portable electronic tablet (or your concierge can “load” our personal tablet). We tell the person behind the kiosk how much we wish to “load” into our Meadowlands tablet using our credit card, let’s say $200. They load our tablet. Our entrance fee, let’s say ten bucks, is the first debit from our balance. We are finished with lines for the rest of the evening.

Our tablet screen has a menu with large tabs.

Current Balance
Program
Food Service
Wagering
Research
Assistance
RNG

Clicking onto each of these tabs takes us to a racing evening unlike any we have ever experienced. Let’s push a few buttons.

Current Balance: A running tab is kept on everything, wagers, food, souvenirs, entrance and beverages. A player’s reward program could be seamlessly integrated into this feature; your customers get perks without needing to slide cards into machines. It is ultra convenient for visitors and and you get to track players.

Food Service: This click takes us to a complete menu of food and beverages. We can order anything we wish with a few simple clicks. The order goes directly to the kitchen. Here good food is made to order, it’s fresh, and because our tablet has a built in GPS the server delivers it to our seat or table. The cost is deducted from our balance; the tip is imbedded in the charge. There is even a timer that shows the progress of our order.

Program: This click takes us to today’s program, or should I say programs. There will be three levels of programs, basic, intermediate and complex. Customers can toggle between programs. The display of the programs will include a timer counting down to the race start, a calculator, scratches and equipment changes.

Wagering: Obviously this click will allow us to wager how we want and when we want. Winnings will be quickly credited to our running balance. The new twist, an important benefit of our being an onsite customer, comes from playing on your tablet. When wagers are placed through the in-house system, our odds of winning are better than people playing at home because the takeout for wagers on our tablet will be significantly less. This is the racetrack’s way of saying they appreciate our physical presence.

Research: This button on our tablet will lead us to a horse racing database. We will have free access to replays, pedigrees, past performance charts, selections from noted handicappers, the in-house television feed (the in house show will be lively and fun) and basically any tool that can help us keep that balance number strong. It’s all part of the package.

Assistance: – A squadron of helpful concierges stand ready to answer the call of any player having any difficulty with any aspect of the evening.

RNG is new. The initials stand for Random Number Generator. This is for customers who want to have a good time but do not want to over-think the evening. When you press the RNG tab on your tablet, you will have a large option of wagering where the wagering selection is random.

On our first screen is a simple display of types of bets, from a simple win ticket to a complex Pick-4 wheel. Each type of bet has a simple clear explanation of what your horse must do in the upcoming race for you to collect. It should be crystal clear to new visitors what they are doing; the tablet should be designed to take the fear and confusion out of the picture.

For example: RNG Win — in this wager, the number selected must be the first horse across the finish line. If you would like to play the win option, click here. The next screen asks how much you would like to wager. You click $5. The screen verifies that you want to wager $5 to win. You click “Yes.” The screen morphs to a kaleidoscope of flashing numbers and randomly stops with a lone number vividly flashing — number five. The wager is deducted from your “Balance” screen and the bet is verified with a flashing banner, “You have wagered $5 to win on horse number 5 (black saddle pad), the race begins in 3:14, 3:13, 3:12…….”

Or newbies might want to try something more exotic.

RNG Trifecta Box with three horses — in this race three numbers will be selected. These three numbers must all finish in the first three positions. Since you are selecting a “box” the first three numbers can finish in any order. Do you want to play? You click yes. What increment do you want to play? ($1, $2, $3, etc.) You touch $1. You wish to wager a $1 trifecta box, your total for this wager will be $6. Do you still wish to play? You click yes. The screen morphs to the RNG, and stops with three flashing numbers….1, 3 and 7.

Just to be sure the new customer knows what they are rooting for, what they need to happen to win, the screen will fill with every one of the winning combinations, the verification and the countdown to the race. Should they win, the winning combination will give terrific feedback by making sounds and flashing the winning number on their tablet.

Traditional handicappers may scoff at the RNG player but traditionalists should get down on their knees and be grateful. All the RNG wagers go into the pool. Real handicappers refer to this as “stupid money.” The more stupid money in a pool, the more opportunities for serious players — and don’t forget, the on track takeouts are already lower.

Lower takeouts, easy playing, on-hand research, good food and stupid money — this is handicapper’s heaven.

For the non-handicapper, a night at this new type of racetrack is a fast paced party, a party where new and casual fans can eat, drink and be merry.

Crazy? Maybe. But I’ll be there — and I’ll bring Charlie.