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 believe in aliens. I think it would be way too selfish of us as mankind to believe we are the only life forms in the universe.” — Demi Lovato

Bob Carson

Consider this. You have a terrific idea for extending the reach of harness racing. The new proposal might be on the gambling front, the digital front, the cellular front, the attendance front or a frontier that few in the harness racing game have considered. You believe in your idea. You believe that it can be turned into a profitable model.

Where do you go with your idea? Who has the power and the motivation to implement your plan? Who can give you the green light? We do not have an all-powerful hierarchy. We have scant national coordination. The most influential person in our sport (whoever that may be) has very little authority; he or she cannot clap and demand, “We are going to try this.” Good or bad, the racing czar argument has been bantered around for decades and languishes in the twilight zone.

Broad-based initiatives in harness racing have ranged from miniscule to non-existent. The scattershot dynamics of harness racing make movement problematical. No matter how good an idea, it will remain merely an idea until landing on the willing lap of a person with the power to push the idea to prosperity. Should that person not exist, the endless cycle of decay will continue.

Let us agree on a few facts; the status quo in harness racing is a ticket on a slow train to nowhere, there are plenty of smart and creative entrepreneurs outside the harness racing world, and we have proved inadequate in pushing ourselves up the sporting and gambling ladder.

Autumn Ryan graphic

So where do we go and what do we do? Perhaps our best answer can be found by having individual racetracks outsource to aliens.

Our first sighting of aliens focuses in on a species that come from cyberspace. This species Tumbles, Twitters and Facebooks. Factions of people in this world are in the business of making money by driving traffic. They count clicks, posts and tweets. They use logarithms, algorithms, data mining and demographic targeting. The folks who operate our local racetracks are not cave people, but they are not ahead of the social media curve. Perhaps a racetrack should make a deal with one of these techie companies, maybe the deal is this — the company drives wagering to a specific site, or they are licensed to operate a specific site and the internet company is paid a tiny percentage of every dollar wagered at that site.

Another group of aliens could be a fledgling promotion company that books live country and western performers. The company is young and hungry and wants to make money. They have zero knowledge of harness racing. The dynamics of a contract between our little racetrack and the promotion company are simple; the company takes over the grandstands for 50 race dates and they receive 75 percent of every paid ticket. The operators of the racetrack are glad to get the “live” customers off their backs, they simply sit back and see if the aliens have any success.

A third group of aliens comes from the strange world of Hollywood. With another 400 channels about to be launched, niche programming is the new trend. Soon, there may be more niches than viewers; in fact, these show business types are running short of niches and are down to opening storage lockers, barehanded mud fishing, tattooing and logging. A virgin niche is harness racing. The Hollywood aliens take over production of the harness racing product at the racetrack. The producers turn a mundane circling of buggies pulled by horses into an extravaganza of sights, sounds and personalities. The racetrack gets a free make-over. New eyes find our sport.

There are other aliens out there. Money is the root of their interest. As well it should be. Perhaps it is time for a handful of racetracks to leave the mother ship. Outsourcing has been standard practice in other entertainment venues for decades. Contracting with specialized companies can save businesses time and money. In our sport, outsourcing would allow tracks to stay focused on their key customers. Outsourcing our product offers a chance to monetize and modernize our product without capitalization or risk. And non-racing entrepreneurs see our sport from a different, enthusiastic perspective.

What does a racetrack have to lose by subleasing the grandstands, at least on an experimental basis? Where is the risk in outsourcing their video feed? What is the downside to having a team fighting to find attention on social networks? Why can’t we allow a foreign nation like the Philippines to set up a digital gambling outpost using our product?

We don’t have to pay these people unless they prove themselves. The aliens are highly motivated; they will work as if their job depended on success — because it does. We continue to race horses. Once in a while we check in to see what these crazy strangers are up to. Who knows, these aliens might lead us to brave new worlds.