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.

“At some time in the life cycle of every organization, its ability to succeed in spite of itself runs out.”

“It’s not hard to meet expenses, they’re everywhere.”

“The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off due to budget cuts.”

Bob Carson

How did you react when you received the news about the possible elimination of Meadowlands Racetrack? I’m guessing, for many of us, our thought process went something like this:

First, “No way, never happen, somebody will save it.”

Then, “Gosh…if it does close, how will it affect me?”

And finally, a panicky, “Somebody do something.”

It’s déjà vu all over again. The Meadowlands news was a shock, but shocks like this are becoming commonplace — and not just in horse racing. In the past few years I have felt comparable emotions and heard similar words in another venue that seemed never-ending.

The end came quickly for many associates. Oh, a few scattered remnants remain, but the clock is ticking. Money, or lack of it, was the villain. Money usually is. The disintegration was both insidious and unbelievable. Looking back at the carnage, we should have seen it coming. Absolutely, we should have seen it coming. Perhaps we could have done some things differently — but I don’t know what. One day it was the center of our universe. The next day it was gone — amazing really.

Autumn Ryan graphic

I’m not referring to harness racing, not yet. Still, lessons can be learned. Tragedy might be averted. Re-invention might happen in the trotting and pacing world. But it’s a long shot, maybe 8-1.

Let’s look at this other industry that we thought would be around forever.

A dozen years ago I began writing for a variety of publications. The field of print publishing was open. I plowed right in. There were travel magazines, horse magazines, humor magazines, history magazines, magazines and newspapers of every sort. Oh it wasn’t easy, a writer had to build up the old clip file and knock on a few doors, but markets were plentiful, the pay was decent and the future was bright. It was great fun.

Then it wasn’t.

The world changed. Always has. Always will. Today the changes are faster. Even products that seemed eternal, like print magazines, newspapers, commercial radio, and telephone booths exit the stage when the economics do not pay the tab. But, quite honestly, when I began writing professionally, it never crossed my mind that printed books and magazines could possibly fall so far, so fast. The collapse of the print industry was so inconceivable that many of us were slow to react to the concept that our market model would move to the internet and PDA’s. If you said a decade ago, and someone once did say this to me, that soon the words of writers would never touch paper — I would have laughed. Not laughing now. You are reading them.

Some recent announcements about the print world illustrate the unthinkable:

• Last week, Amazon announced that it sold more e-books than paper books.
• “Tonight we’ll be putting the paper to bed for the last time,” Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby told a silent newsroom Monday morning after The Hearst Corp. announced Monday that it would stop publishing the 146-year old newspaper, Seattle’s oldest business, and cease delivery to more than 117,600 weekday readers.
• “There will be no newspapers or magazines delivered in paper form by the year 2020.” — Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft.

Only a wistful and wishful few still believe that newspapers or magazines or books in their current printed form will flourish. Print publications are losing advertisers, readers, market value, and hope. The economic model does not work. The future for writers and readers will be I-pads and Kindles. The transition will be complete in a few short years.

Good or bad doesn’t matter all that much, the bottom line is always the final judge.

If you believe harness racing is forever, give a quick call to my dozen wonderful editors who no longer have a magazine to edit. If they are lucky, they are struggling to adapt to cyber publishing. If they are unlucky, they are looking for work. The gathering storm of the internet and changing audiences struck with tsunami force, leaving a bewildered paper trail and stranded participants.

Many of you believe harness racing will be forever. You also believe that print newspapers and magazines will always be around. Think again. With the possible exceptions of quarterback Bret Favre and the members of the Rolling Stones, nothing is forever in entertainment.

Stormy skies are over harness racing. Casino assisted tracks have umbrellas, but eventually they will fold up in the hurricane winds. And the future will not depend on how good we are, how much fun we are, how beautiful the horses are or our impressive history. Our future will depend on new economic models for harness racing. And those economic models may, or may not, involve pari-mutuel wagering as we know it.

In these difficult economic times, harness racing should no longer expect handouts. We can’t rely on anyone. Harness racing must find ways to get back on its feet and be self-sufficient. Gloom and doom gets us nowhere. If you are a complainer — save your breath and at least stay out of the way. Let’s work and look for new niches. We have a good product. We have to believe we will find ways to survive and thrive. People are smart. People are creative. One of the benefits of this wretched economy is that good brains are out there and available.

Pilot programs are potential saviors. We need new money and new ideas. Investors love hard data. The best hard data is empirical evidence. Show them a model that can turn a buck and they will find you. A terrific asset we have is that new models can be tried as we leave the traditional pari-mutuel betting chugging along. Isn’t it possible that a harness race program could progress exactly the same as it has for the past 50 years and we ask the true handicappers to play online while entrepreneurs operate the nearly vacant racetrack as a laboratory for a sub-species of entertainment. What’s to lose except eight old guys in fedoras?

We begin with a bare bones paradigm; basically empty facilities and horses ready to race. You — yes, you — could set up a pilot program. All and any concepts are on the table. But concepts must have a fiscal foundation. You need to show the money. You need to think like a businessperson and not just as a fan who loves the sport.

Many of the publications I worked for were terrific, absolutely first class. This did not save them. The ones that have been saved were the ones that could pay the bills. New models for harness racing must have a solid, measureable plan to make a profit. Figure out how advertising, funding, membership, endowments, ticket sales, sponsorship, gambling, selling shares, state funding, or any combination of revenue streams can make your idea a reality. You need not be grandiose. Bite off only what you can chew and measure. Find a model for a single state, a single racetrack, a single program or even a single race.

Pilot programs may find traditional gambling in a diminished role. Some concepts may be hybrids of gambling and non-gambling. Whatever concepts you come up with, it is probably a good idea to avoid the swamp of state gambling regulations. Some may see a future as an entertainment option. Other may see revenue streams in new gambling paradigms. Others may see the future is monetizing internet options. The main question may well be — is harness racing capable of generating viable revenue streams with a lessened role of the engine of pari-mutuel wagering or is a structure that is exclusively gambling our best ticket? Or is a combination the best fiscal model?

While writing this, a very sad e-mail just popped up on my screen.

The interruption brought the unsettling news that another paper publication, this one a horse racing publication from the Northwest, is folding. It was a terrific magazine. The editor is one of my favorite people. I know she desperately tried to pump life into the 50-year-old breeding and horse racing publication. She just could not sell it in the present economic climate. Maybe some fresh eyes and a few experiments could have saved her magazine. I bet she wished she would have tried a new track instead of desperately trying to extend the old track.

Let’s try some new tracks in harness racing. Not just talk. Try. Passivity will kill us. Don’t expect others to do the work. Don’t expect the USTA or Standardbred Canada to drive the bus or fund the project. Should you throw up your hands and say you are powerless…you render yourself powerless. You are not.

On a micro level you can promote our game at every opportunity. In the next six months, if everyone brings two new people into the harness tent we triple our number and triple our potential resources. Bring them in with intensity. Gamble with them. Help them become involved in horse ownership. Take them to a sale. Begin an e-mail or cell phone dialogue. Keep pushing. It is entirely possible that both you and your protégés will have a great time.

For the bold few, think even bigger, reach even higher. Get some like-minded harness race enthusiasts together and set up a pilot project. Don’t worry about looking stupid. Stupid is standing agape as the lights go out on harness racing. Take up the challenge and head for adventure. I’ll be implementing one of these new plans on my own dime and my own time. Perhaps it will be a disaster and you will think me a fool. Don’t care. Better to work on new bilge pumps than just watch our beloved ship sink.

If you are a breeder and have a good pilot, get fellow breeders together and make a plan. If you are a fan that rues the political winds that have blown devastation to harness racing, organize grass roots voting platforms or pressure groups. Today an article suggested Ohio is looking for people to sit on a new gambling and casino board. Apply. If you are a beleaguered racetrack operator, it’s time to work harder. If you see a new digital path, travel it. Have an idea, send it. Fight that windmill. We must reinvent harness racing like there is no tomorrow.

“Every morn brings forth a noble chance. And every chance brings forth a noble knight.” — Tennyson