Harness: Inside the 2019 numbers at The Meadowlands
The 2019 season at The Meadowlands is in the books and thus marks the completion of the first meeting at the one-mile oval with the benefit of a purse subsidy from the state of New Jersey. Now we can look back over the season and analyze it with the benefit of objective facts in the form of numbers.
In the previous year, 2018, The Meadowlands total handle was just over $189 Million. The total handle in 2019, albeit a year that included five additional race days, surpassed $235 Million, a 24.3% increase. For the purposes of comparing the benefit of the purse subsidy, the most significant figures are those taken from the months of March onward.
Comparing those like months year over year, the Meadowlands handle in 2019 was $187.9 Million compared to $155.2 Million the previous year, a 21.1% increase. Beyond just handle figures, perhaps the most meaningful statistic is the number of races run and the number of betting interests over this time period. From March through the end of the year in 2019, The Meadowlands contested 950 races comprised of 8,598 betting interests, or 9.1 betting interests per race. That compares to 807 races over that same period in 2018 with 6,840 betting interests, or 8.5 betting interests per race. With two more days of racing, The Meadowlands contested 143 more races and 1,758 more betting interests. If you remove the additional 143 races at the previously mentioned 9.1 starters per race, that leaves 457 more betting interests amongst the remaining 807 races, indicating that not only did The Meadowlands run more races, but they ran their races with larger fields throughout the year.
Historically, once the month of March passes, The Meadowlands sees substantial handle and horse population declines. In 2018, the average handle per card for the first three months of the year was $2.57 Million. That fell to $2.28 Million in April, $2.04 Million in May and $1.86 Million in June. In 2019, the declines were far less drastic. The average handle this past season for the first three months was $2.82 Million. April’s handle was on par with that figure at $2.81 Million while May and June did not see the typical massive drop-off, coming in at $2.67 and $2.62 Million respectively.
What helped The Meadowlands in those months? The answer is horse population. In 2018 the months of April through June saw 267 races with 2,144 betting interests or 8.03 betting interests per race. This past year those figures were 339 races and 2,996 betting interests or 8.84 betting interests per race. The difference between averaging eight horses per race compared to nine horses per race in terms of the impact on handle is drastic.
Is every measure used for analysis an immense positive? Of course not. When a racetrack increases their horse population so dramatically in a one-year period, it is practically impossible for handle to keep up at the same rate. Handle per race showed an increase, but a more modest increase of $197.8K vs. $192.3K, or a little shy of 3%. Handle per betting interest was actually down slightly from $22,687 a year ago to $21,856 in 2018. But again, when talking about 1,750 more betting interests over a 90 day meet, it is hard for handle per interest to climb from one year to the next. Despite spending $5.3 Million more in purses since March 1st, handle per purse dollar spent declined just slightly from $7.54 in 2018 to $7.27 this past year. In other words, for every dollar The Meadowlands spent on purses this past year, The Meadowlands saw $7.27 in handle.
The true test will come in 2020, much like it did in 2014 for The Meadowlands. In 2013, The Meadowlands showed massive gains due to a series of changes that were made, simultaneously and naturally, after the first year, the handle plateaued. Can The Meadowlands build on the success of 2019? It will not be easy, but there are many positive indicators supporting the racetrack and the industry in New Jersey. The Meadowlands bucked the thoroughbred trend in 2019, which saw handle decline as an industry by $250 Million year-over-year, which certainly impacted the handle on their importing of signals.
According to the Economic Indicators on U.S. races provided by ustrotting.com, total handle for 2019 was $1.424 Billion, compared to $1.376 Billion in 2018, a gain of $48 Million, which was almost entirely made up by the gains of The Meadowlands ($46 Million). The Meadowlands wasn’t the driving force behind the gains in harness racing in 2019, it was the entire reason for them.
There is a lot riding on The Meadowlands’ performance in 2020. They need to support their own purse subsidy legislation with positive results. They certainly want to show gains over 2019 and harness racing is once again depending on their performance. Hopefully, the momentum continues and their potential is fulfilled with a banner 2020.