HARNESS: Macedonio: Make it worthwhile and women will come

So who’s going to be the first to dedicate 75% of their resources to getting women to the racetrack? I’ve talked about it before and this time I’m referring to women as the customer, specifically, the BETTING customer.

Here’s a kick start. Women get double the odds . . . BOOM! Where did I conjure up this idea? Well, I was at a billiards tournament. It wasn’t handicapped, with a random draw of matchups in a three-game set. Except, women had to pay half the entry fees. Women also had a separate pool. For every woman entrant, the pool hall put up a dollar and the last woman standing in the tournament got that extra money, which last night was $19.

The total of $19 meant 19 women participated in the tournament. That amount basically paid your expenses for the evening between food, entry fees and table time. Who wouldn’t like that in every tournament?

There was also a raffle for every entrant to win another small pot. Women received DOUBLE the raffle tickets. Now in the end all of these little promotions didn’t break anyone’s bank or change anyone’s life, but the bar deserves praise for getting 19 women into a place that is traditionally not welcoming to that gender. It’s a pool hall! It’s smoky, dark, filled with and catered to men. That environment sounds a lot like how women perceive a grandstand at racetracks.

If you start paying out double the odds, women will find their way to the racetrack. Two things can happen:

1) Women will venture to a not so women-friendly place if there is a real chance to make money. If there is a real chance that a struggling college student could walk away with a few hundred each night because she received double odds, you would see that word of mouth spread fast!

2) Maybe all of a sudden wives are being brought to the track with their husbands to place the bets for them. Who cares why the women are there, once you have them, figure out other ways to get their money, whether it’s through dining, merchandise, spas, shopping, etc.

Imagine if there was a separate pot of money for the women who are in attendance at a track; maybe a chance to win $100 each night. Maybe every night is $1 beer night for women. Maybe women get a free program every night. Maybe…