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Say it ain’t so. From harnessracing.com-
Under the backdrop of an empty paddock at Churchill Downs, officials of Kentucky racetracks–including The Red Mile’s president and CEO Joe Costa–gathered for a press conference Wednesday afternoon to plead their case for expanded gaming in the Bluegrass State.
In making his comments at the Louisville track which was closed Wednesday for live racing after a request to cut one day from its weekly schedule was granted by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Costa noted that Standardbred racing “is the canary in the coal mine,” noting that between The Red Mile, Thunder Ridge and Player’s Bluegrass Downs there are just 76 days of live harness racing in the state in 2009.
Costa used a college basketball analogy in comparing Kentucky’s plight against neighboring states which have expanding gaming at its tracks. Costa posed the question to the crowd of about 150–which included major media outlets from across the state including Lousville and Lexington and several horsemen including Bernard “Chip” Wooley, the trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and veteran trainer Bernard Flint–that universities such as the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky would not be able to compete on the basketball court if they were unable to offer scholarships as schools such as Duke, North Carolina and Kansas are.
Bob Evans, president of Churchill Downs, bluntly stated, “If you think it’s bad now, it’s only going to get worse.” Evans then added, “The time to act is now. We simply can’t wait any longer. All we are looking for is to pass a simple piece of legislation.”
Even if the tracks get the legislation they want, it hardly guarantees horse racing in Kentucky will survive. As we’ve seen in case, after case, after case, slots and other types of gambling don’t draw sufficient people to race tracks to keep them operating as their owners hoped and planned to.
I love horse racing myself, but can understand why most people have little interest in going to the track. You watch a race for two minutes, then basically do nothing other than handicap the next race and place your bet till the next post time that isn’t for another 20-30 minutes. Simulcasts from other tracks help to fill the time, but the number of people in the United States who enjoy the ‘Sport of Kings’ any more is continues to dwindle. I’m not optimistic about the future of horse racing.
This news comes as no surprise to this golf fan.
Without a new title sponsor, the future of Milwaukee’s PGA Tour stop will be in serious jeopardy. Getting that kind of commitment out of a company is not easy in this economy — especially for a tournament that is played opposite the British Open.
U.S. Bank will not renew its sponsorship after this year’s tournament in July, and tournament director Dan Croak is searching for a replacement.
“We need a big sponsor — or, as we’ve had in the past, a couple of big sponsors — to take the biggest piece of the puzzle,” Croak said Monday. “And then we’re able to sell smaller pieces within the community. We are moving forward as if we need a title sponsor to continue.”
Sponsorship is a major chunk of a tournament’s budget; Croak wouldn’t give a specific figure, but allowed that it accounts for “probably 50 percent” of revenues.
“The way that the PGA Tour structures itself, you can’t do it without [a sponsor],” he said.
That’s untrue. The now defunct BC Open was still a PGA Tour stop till 2006 and never had a sponsor in its 35 year history. Its only been in the last two decades that almost all tournaments came to have a sponsor. Better yet, before US Bank became sponsor, The modern Milwaukee Open never had a sponsor from the 1968(It’s first tournament) up till 2003. It was called the Greater Milwaukee Open for all of those years.
The PGA Tour and its golfers have to be realistic. You can’t expect a sponsor to shell out millions for an event where no top golfer with the exception of Kenny Perry can be expected to play. What do you do? Play for less money or not play at all? I predict the PGA Tour and its players will have to make that decision about this tournament and a few others.
Croak says the tournament’s commitment to raising money for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin makes it more attractive to companies.
“It’s much easier to say the primary beneficiary of this tournament is Children’s Hospital,” Croak said. “And then they say, ‘Oh, yeah. It is about charity.’”
The charities will have to decide too if less is better than none.
Charles Wang has put over a quarter billion of his own money into the franchise since purchasing it in 2000. From AP-
New York Islanders owner Charles Wang says he regrets buying the money-losing NHL team nine years ago.
“If I had the chance I wouldn’t do it again,” Wang told Newsday.
Citing the team’s annual audited financial reports, Newsday reported Saturday on its Web site that Wang has spent $208.8 million — an average of $23 million per year — to keep the team operating. He also spent $74.2 million when he and Sanjay Kumar bought the club and assumed $97 million in liabilities.
“His numbers are real,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Newsday. “Yes, we’re aware the Islanders lose money, a significant amount of money. And it goes back to the team’s need for a new arena.”
Wang said he initially assumed Nassau Coliseum would either be refurbished or replaced within a few years, but his proposed $3.7 billion Lighthouse Project has been held up and is still under review by the Town of Hempstead.
“Never in my life, would I have anticipated this thing could be dragged out for seven, eight years,” said Wang, the founder of Computer Associates.
An NHL-worst 26-47-9 this season, the Islanders will play a preseason game in September in Kansas City, Mo., prompting speculation about a move. Officials in Willets Point in Queens also have expressed interest in the team.
“I’m not saying I’ll move,” Wang said. “I’m saying I’ll explore all my options.”
Honestly I don’t blame Mr. Wang. He has a great deal of money invested, if I were him I’d want the business in the best possible environment for it to become profitable. The New York area has three NHL franchises, the Islanders, the NY Rangers, and the New Jersey Devils. Are there enough NHL fans in that area? A team needs both a solid business model, and results on ice(or field) to be successful. Some owners emphasize the first, but losing teams rarely can make money on a consistent basis. Consumers aren’t going to put up money for a poor product, and goes for sports fans also.
The team has reported annual losses of thirty million dollars. From AP-
The NHL has loaned an unknown amount of money to the Phoenix Coyotes for payroll and rent payments.
The Arizona Republic reported that if the team fails to pay its debt, the league can take it over, according to financial records filed with Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.
The day after the team agreed to loan terms Feb. 24 with the NHL, it paid Glendale nearly $351,000 in overdue arena rent payments.
The loan terms give the NHL more control over the future of the struggling Coyotes, including the possible relocation of the team.
The NHL and team owner Jerry Moyes declined to comment.
Beset by annual losses reported at $30 million, Moyes is trying to sell all or part of the team.
A poor economy at present and a team owing money and can’t make ends meet. That is not a good recipe for finding a new owner or investors. Shrinkage is definitely an option for the NHL or other leagues with financially troubled franchises but I don’t expect it to happen unless the economy gets worse over the next year or so and a upturn doesn’t look likely.
Is David Stern taking the same ‘don’t worry be happy’ pills that LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens seems to be taking also?
David Stern calls himself an optimist and considers his owners and players realists.
Since when has labor and management in any industry both been realists at the same time?
So despite the economic turmoil, the NBA commissioner remains confident the two sides will work together this summer during talks for a new collective bargaining agreement.
Nothing will get done till the last moment aka a lockout or player strike if at all. Both sides won’t budge even when the damage a stoppage would cause was detrimental to the sport. MLB went without a World Series in 1994 and the NHL a whole hockey season. Both sides rather do themselves harm than give even the slightest.
The central issue, according to Stern, will be division of revenue — the players now get 57 percent.
“As I watch other industries around us, one thing is common. Everyone has to make sort of a contribution to business and the like,” Stern said Monday. “Our fans are increasingly hard-pressed. We’re making certain concessions that will actually decrease revenue in some ways.
“The point that I take from all this is that we are all in this together and the players are also in it as we are, so I’m still maintaining an optimistic posture because I know that our players believe that. I know our owners believe it and I know our fans are looking for us to step up together to do what has to be done.”
Stern spoke during his annual playoffs conference call, when he said competitive postseason races, plus strong TV ratings and attendance figures have made this a good season for the league.
Future seasons could be a bit gloomier — or perhaps wiped out entirely.
And NBA fans won’t sympathize with either side. Seeing everyone as greedy millionaires who milk fans for every penny. Why go to a sporting event when you get hit for outrageous charges for everything from parking to a soft drink in addition to paying for a seat? I thought about watching my first NHL game in person a little while back. That notion was quickly squashed when I discovered I would pay approximately $100 for a non nosebleed seat. Why go to the Bank Atlantic arena when I can watch a game at home?
Stern said those talks will pick up after the NBA Finals in June. The owners will put together a negotiating committee after their meetings in New York this week and the players will soon do the same.
My prediction- There will be a strike or a lockout sometime in the next fifteen months. As I watch little basketball, I won’t be missing anything.
Tom Hicks claims this won’t won’t affect the teams. From AP-
The company that owns baseball’s Texas Rangers and hockey’s Dallas Stars has defaulted on about $525 million in loans, with owner Tom Hicks saying on Friday that he intentionally made the move to help negotiate with banks.
Hicks told The Associated Press the teams won’t be affected after Hicks Sports Group, his holding company, didn’t make an interest payment on the syndicated bank loans Tuesday. A syndicated bank loan is one made by a group of lenders to one borrower.
“What we want is the banks to allow us to use our interest revenue,” Hicks said. “We need 51 percent approval, which we anticipate. It is hard to get two banks to agree to anything, much less 40 on a timely basis.”
A financial news Web site called FINalternatives first reported Friday that Hicks Sports Group did not make its interest payment on a $350 million bank-term loan, $100 million second-lien loan and a $75 million revolving credit facility.
“Like so many other companies and institutions, HSG has been impacted by a global credit crisis which no one could have anticipated,” Hicks said in a statement. “The company is not asking for additional money; it is only asking for full access to the interest reserve account and revolving credit line as well as some amendments in the debt covenants.”
He said that the negotiations have nothing to with his other assets or his family’s assets.
“This will be a nonevent to players, to the fans, our sponsors, our vendors, anybody,” Hicks said.
Hicks admits he is seeking minority owners for the franchises. I don’t see how these financial problems CAN’T affect the teams Hicks owns. In a few months it will be the time of year when NHL teams sign free agents or try to retain those players they have now. If these teams are unable to pay for a loan, how will they be able to compete in the player market?
And he posted a video of it to the internet. From AP-
A French pole vaulting champion ran naked with his pole through the streets of Paris and posted the video on the Internet, hoping to draw attention to his quest for a new sponsorship deal.
Romain Mesnil, who won a silver medal at the 2007 Athletics World Championships in Osaka, was sponsored by Nike but says his contract expired last year and was not renewed.
“It was probably for budgetary and strategic reasons. It’s the crisis,” he wrote on his Web site.
Many athletes have reported difficulties obtaining corporate sponsorship as companies cut costs because of the global economic downturn.
In his video, Mesnil runs with his pole as if preparing for a vault at tourist spots like Montmartre and the Pont des Arts across the River Seine. A black square has been added to the footage to cover his groin area.
I don’t think too many people would want to see this pole vaulter’s ‘pole’ but I could be wrong.
While Mesnil’s stunt drew him plenty of publicity, supporting a pole vaulter who runs naked in public may not be the image a potential sponsor would want to be presenting.
The course that hosts the Preakness Stakes continues to have financial difficulty.
Magna Entertainment Corp. said Friday it has defaulted on a loan that is secured by its Maryland racing properties, including Laurel Park and Pimlico Racecourse.
According to Magna, the bank that holds the loan, PNC Bank, has “chosen not to exercise its rights and remedies under such loan agreement at this time.” According to Magna’s most recent financial statements, the loan had net borrowings of $1.6 million as of Sept. 30, 2008.
Magna, the largest racetrack operator in the U.S., recently hired bankruptcy lawyers as advisers. The company has lost $500 million over the last five years and is in danger of defaulting on hundreds of millions of dollars in loans beginning in mid-March. The majority of the debt coming due is held by its parent company and controlling shareholder, MI Developments.
Magna also said that it has notified Well Fargo Bank that it has not met the financial conditions for a $40 million line of credit extended by the bank. Wells Fargo has also chosen not to exercise any of its options on the loan, the company said.
These latest problems for horse racing in Maryland comes as no surprise to me. Rosecroft Raceway had to discontinue live racing. Attempts to prop up the Sport of Kings with other forms of gambling on site continue to fail and I’m afraid horse racing could die one day in the United States.
Could the PGA Tour be returning to the days of slimmer purses and tournaments without corporate sponsors? From ESPN-
Commissioner Tim Finchem announced Tuesday that FBR has decided not to renew its contract after 2010 for the popular tournament outside Phoenix.
“We’ve obviously had — and are having — some bumps in the road,” Finchem said.
Already this year, U.S. Bank has said it was pulling out of the Milwaukee tournament after this year, and Ginn Resorts ended its sponsorship contract three years early, prompting the tour to file a lawsuit. The tour also faces uncertainty in Memphis, Tenn., where Stanford Financial was signed up through 2016 as the sponsor.
However, Travelers Insurance two weeks ago extended its sponsorship in Connecticut by four years through 2014, and Finchem said Accenture has signed up for another four years as title sponsor of this week’s Match Play Championship.
FBR has been the title sponsor since 2004 at the TPC Scottsdale, which has grown into the rowdiest event on the PGA Tour.
Using cars to gauge its attendance, the tournament last year set a record with more than 538,000 fans for the weekend, including 170,802 on Saturday. Most of them head to the par-3 16th hole, which is entirely enclosed with bleachers, making it the closest thing to golf being played in a stadium.
The tournament is run by The Thunderbirds, a civic group which has become one of the top fundraisers for PGA Tour charities. The group said it has begun the search for a new sponsor, a tough task in this economy.
A tournament that was first played in 1932, is likely to face a tough choice. A half dozen PGA Tour stops are in the process of or have lost sponsors, and with the economy and public opinion the way it is, I think it will be hard to find replacements. The PGA Tour has fewer problems than the LPGA, and they will adjust. Maybe a celebrity would like to give his name(but not money) to the event. Half or a little more of the west coast events had celebrity affiliations in the 1970′s
Bob Hope- Palm Springs tournament
Andy Williams- San Diego
Bing Crosby- Pebble Beach
Glen Campbell- LA
Could a return to those days be in the cards for the PGA Tour?
Could harness racing in Florida be permanently kaput as early as May 2nd 2009?
The Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association (FSBOA) has issued a press release stating that the Isle Casino at Pompano has asked the state of Florida to approve a reduction in the number of Standardbred racing days for the 2008-2009 race meet from 160 to 140.
In addition, the FSBOA release noted that the Isle Casino at Pompano Park confirmed that they have applied for a summer Quarter Horse license. There had been previous reports that Pompano Park was applying for a summer Quarter Horse license.
Also, the FSBOA release said that the Standardbred meet will end on May 2, 2009, instead of the original schedule of Aug. 2, as advertised on the stall application. The FSBOA also said Steve Wolf, Director of Racing at Pompano, told the horsemen in a memo that the stable area and the grooms quarters must be vacated by May 10, 2009. This includes all horses (400–800) and all personal property. Anything left behind will be discarded by management.
“This change will have a devastating effect on Standardbred racing in Florida. It will not only put the breeding and Florida Sire Stakes programs in grave danger, it could spell the end of harness racing in Florida,” said the FSBOA press release.
I don’t know if what the FSBOA is saying is true or if they’re doing a impersonation of Chicken Little ‘Harness racing is falling. Harness racing is falling.’ The Sun-Sentinel based out of Fort Lauderdale, less than ten miles from Pompano Park, hasn’t
reported a word on the state of local harness racing this year.
What I do know, is that horse racing is a precarious situation at present. One being made worse by the current economic situation. I’ve written more multiple times about the economic difficulties ‘The Sport of Kings’ has faced of late. It is my worse fear that the sport will be extinct or close to it in as little as ten years.
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