Harness: Meadowlands leads the way

The years may pass but one constant remains the same in Standardbred racing – the Meadowlands dominates wagering dollars.

In 2023, total handle on Standardbred racing in the United States was $1.585 billion, registering a 6.6% increase from 2022. This was despite the number of race days declining by just under 2%.

At the center of that increase, as always, was the Meadowlands.

Sure, the Meadowlands does not put forth 190 days of harness racing like it did 20 years ago, and it is not handling $5 million on random Saturday nights. But its handle over the last 10 to 12 years has been one of the constants in harness racing.

The Meadowlands reported that its total handle for the 2023 season was nearly $275 million, which accounts for 17.4% of the total amount wagered on harness racing in the United States and nearly a 27% increase over the previous year, albeit consisting of four more racing days.

In fact, the Meadowlands was responsible for more than half of the 2023 handle increase across the entire harness racing industry in the United States. Think about that, one racetrack was responsible for half of the increase!

In addition, the average handle per Meadowlands program of $3.09 million was also a 21% increase over the average handle per program in 2022. Of the 89 racing programs, 60 boasted a wagering handle north of $3 million.

The Hambletonian Day card on August 5 brought in over $7.8 million in North American handle and the last two years, Hambletonian Day has been the two most-bet cards at the Meadowlands since 2005.

The Meadowlands Pace card was the most successful Pace night since 2006, registering $5.68 million in handle.

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Can this trajectory continue? It won't be easy.

First, when you have a massive performance with staunch year-over-year gains it is hard to replicate. A racetrack needs some racing luck, and the Meadowlands has already been hit with a Saturday cancellation due to weather this year.

Second, there is an abundance of competition. With online casino gaming and sports betting becoming increasingly expansive across the country, you are no longer just fighting for wagering dollars with other racetracks, but now fighting against other forms of gambling as well, and those other options are available in more places.

What can the Meadowlands do to ensure another successful year of racing?

The most important thing to do is avoid complacency. It is easy on the heels of a successful season to take an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. There is also something to be said for being fearful of making changes to a product that had a wildly successful year.

There are a few items that I do think could be adjusted that would help The Meadowlands in 2024.

First, I do believe there is a little too much going on with the wagering menu.

The Meadowlands offers the following multi-race wagers involving four or more contests:

Race 1: 20-cent Pick 5
Race 2: 20-cent Survivor Pick 7
Race 4: 20-cent Pick 8
Race 6: 50-cent Pick 4
Race 8: 20-cent Pick 6
Race 10: 50-cent Pick 4

Having six races on the program begin multi-race exotic wagers that last at least four races is just too much. There are four multi-race exotic wagers from races two through eight of at least four races that overlap each other and again from races four through 10.

The Meadowlands is tying too much money up in these wagers. I don't see the need for a Pick 6, Pick 7 and Pick 8 on a single racing program.

The Meadowlands also begins its racing card with its only Pick 5 of the night. I feel this could be better positioned as well.

Personally, I would eliminate one of the Survivor Pick 7 or the Pick 8 (if not both). Whichever of the two remains, I would begin the racing program with and I would add a second Pick 5 wager.

My wagering format would look something like this:

Race 1: Pick 7
Race 3: Pick 5
Race 6: Pick 4
Race 8: Pick 6
Race 9: Pick 5
Race 10: Pick 4

Second, the time has come to return to more traditional base-value wagers. We are already beginning to see racetracks shy away from the jackpot and 20-cent wagers in thoroughbred racing and the Meadowlands should lead the charge to do the same in harness racing.

The Pick 5 wagers should be moved from a 20-cent denomination to a 50-cent denomination, and the Pick 4 should return to $1 base bets.

If you are offering a Pick 6 and a Pick 7 for 20 cents, there is no reason to also have a Pick 5 at 20 cents and a Pick 4 at 50 cents.

Lastly, reduce takeout on all those multi-race wagers from 15% to 12%.

Why? The answer is simple. Horse racing cannot compete with wagering on football, basketball, blackjack and roulette. The action in those other games is far too fast. Racing needs to protect its own backyard.

On the minimum amounts, horseplayers don't want diluted pools that are watered down by these low-cost wagers. We tried it, we found out that all it does it reduce the payouts and we want the large base wagers back.

It's a bold suggestion. If I'm wrong and handle declines on those bets, it will cost the Meadowlands money, and it is easy for me to make these suggestions when I am not paying the bills. But I'm not wrong. We are in an age where nearly half the wagers made are done by a person sitting at home, in a restaurant, at a sporting event or at a friend's house, on their phone or iPad. These are not casual players. These are not players who bring $50 to the racetrack looking for a fun Friday night. These are horseplayers and as horseplayers, this is what they want.