It's been said by some that horseplayers are a dying breed. That people die every day shouldn't come as a surprise, but successful industries throughout the world do their best not to market for the past and focus on the future when planning the next chapter. Technology changes more rapidly than generations, forcing all successful companies to pivot or be caught out in the cold. Harness racing and for that matter Thoroughbred racing have remained loyal to a pari-mutuel system that has become archaic. In doing so the system that built the business has helped to destroy it in many ways. High takeouts contribute to the demise but limited selection and the very fact that pool sizes have cratered have created a whirlwind of bad batting scenarios that have pretty much wiped out the small player. Computer generated options have made the pickings slimmer and the returns less enticing. Just ask one question in any marketing survey: Would you risk $2 to get $2.40 back on a winning bet? Somehow, we've forgotten to poll the bettors that are still alive and the ones eligible to play every day on sporting events where the actual outcome of the game is less important than the collective of in-game player statistical parlays. While racing has stuck rigidly to a script that propelled them in the 1950's, sports wagering collectives have remade that wagering market. Sports betting no longer comes close to resembling the days when your dad had to place a phone call to his bookmaker to wager on the outcome of a baseball, basketball or football game. Today's online sports betting menu pales in comparison to the past and markets itself to those who want plenty of action, as well as the chance to hit it big. The reality of sports betting in an earlier day is that it essentially was an even-money game with the takeout removed. Today, the odds have increased, and the options have exploded, with companies taking advantage of changes in the banking and retail business. Interactivity with players has become essential to help spur more wagers. Racing, due to constrictions of the pari-mutuel system, has been unable to find a path to this side of the gambling business that has exploded, with other sports utilizing statistics more than relying on the specific winners and losers in a game. The reality today is that for any horse racing to be around in the future it will need to meet the demands of today's sports bettors, as well as hold their attention long enough to bring them into the future with us. Racing has plenty of statistics, and there are enough variables within a given race to offer multiple outcome wagers with far better logical returns than $2.40 to $2 wagered. Pari-mutuel wagering may be necessary for the purists, but the reality is that bets can be made without requiring a mastery of the past performance program, and we are not doing anything to expand the options to attract a new group of players. Statistics, such as which horses will be leading or in the top three positions at the quarter-pole, half-mile pole, three-quarter pole and finish wire could be a starting point to a multi-event (same game in sports jargon) parlay. Add to that whether fractions will be faster or slower than say 28 3/5 seconds to the quarter, 57 3/5 at the half, 1:25 3/5 at the three-quarters and 1:54 at the finish. The variables can be expanded where races might be combined with individual data from each in order to provide a 10-option wager offering bigger returns on a small investment. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter One of the biggest dilemmas our sport has not conquered is the past performance program and its intricacies. The reality of the program is that when used simply to break down statistical outcomes, such as which horses might be leading at certain points in the mile and how fast they might travel, the numbers are simple to digest. Predicting the winner of a race could be more difficult, but new players would not need to be experts at that to win these in-race parlays. Whether we want to believe it or not, harness racing has fallen behind the curve in wagering and needs to come up to speed. Losing generations of potential bettors is at stake, and racing has plenty of dynamics that still could make it more entertaining to watch, while at the same time worth wagering on. What has escaped me is exactly why no tracks have partnered with software companies to engineer such wagers while multiple companies have advanced these efforts across a broad range of sports. Harness racing is a sport and there should be no reason it is prohibited from being wagered upon as other sports are in North America. While takeout and lack of handle have collectively run racing and its players into the ground, sports wagering has grown, and there is still plenty of money being taken out by the house. Racing conducted at a faster clip with more betting options available to players and higher returns promised should be the focus for the future. Banking on players coming back from the dead is essentially what we have been asking to happen, and the results have been obvious. As someone that's been around long enough to know what racing looked like a half-century ago, we seem more than overdue to put the wooden sulky and the days of 30,000 people in the grandstand behind us. The dynamics of the current generation expect everything to be at one's fingertips. Whether using a phone or computer, it's easier to shop online than in person. It's easier to wager online than in person. It's easier to bank online than in person. For harness racing, the only thing that's missing is our ability to connect to potential players online. For my money, it's long past time to follow the leaders in the sports wagering field and ramp up the betting menus so that players can have a chance to win and get a decent return on their investment. As a cautionary tale, those concerned with whether this style of wagering will be an automatic money maker should be more focused on garnering attention from a younger demographic. Even if this is in its infancy a loss-leader, it could still be effective in exposing the sport to a new and younger audience. Over time, with software improvements, a model could be in place for the next generation of horse racing players.