12/21/2015 Symposium: Panel Gives 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes | BloodHorse.com

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Global Symposium on Racing and Gaming 45 ideas in45 minutes. Photo: Courtesy of RTIP

Symposium: Panel Gives 45 Ideas in 45 Minutesby Frank Angst Date Posted: 12/8/2015 12:38:01 PMLast Updated: 12/9/2015 9:47:46 AM

The University of Arizona Racetrack Industry Program'sGlobal Symposium on Racing started in a big way whenit asked five panelists to offer 45 ideas in 45 minutes onimproving racing and the marketing of the sport.

The panel was well­received in the room at the LoewsVentana Canyon Resort near Tucson, Ariz, and onsocial media.

Ideas offered by panelists Steve Byk, host of radio's Atthe Races; Darryl Kaplan, editor of Trot Magazine;Steve Koch, executive director of the NationalThoroughbred Racing Association Safety and IntegrityAlliance; Peter Rotondo, vice president of media andentertainment at Breeders' Cup; and Amy Zimmerman,director of broadcasting for The Stronach Group,included creative ideas on improving the wageringproduct and marketing the sport.

Noting that New York Racing Association offers racecalls in Spanish—a rare exception of reaching out—Byk called on tracks to do more marketing to Latinos. Henoted that many of the sport's participants are of Hispanic background but horse racing doesn't do enough todevelop them as fans.

Byk also called on racing to consistently report payouts. He said every track should report payouts in astandard way, whether it be based on $2 payoff, $1 payoff, or 50­cent payoff. He noted that it's silly fortracks to frustrate winning players when they find out what they thought was a payoff for the $1 winning ticketthey hold is, in fact, half that amount. He also called on making fixed­odds wagering a reality.

Kaplan suggested doing things like racing horses on beaches or even iced­over canals as a way of taking thesport to people. He called on racing to encourage school field trips to horse farms and other efforts to reachout to young people.

Koch offered one of the more well­received suggestions when he said a centralized stewards' stand shouldbe in place to make racing calls. He noted similar efforts that have been advanced in other sports like proand college football.

Byk complimented Koch's idea on moving to centralized stewards' decisions. He said the technology isavailable to have centralized stewards making interference calls, ending fighting in local stewards' standsthat Byk said is common.

"I think that idea may have more merit than anything we've heard today," Byk said. "It could eliminate anongoing open sore we have in the game."

Koch also called on the sport to make a push to offer at least one race at the Olympics. Wearing his NTRASafety and Integrity Alliance hat, he said the time has come to get every track on board and that effort couldinclude punishing non­participating tracks by not awarding them graded stakes or not allowing them toparticipate in the National Handicapping Challenge.

Rotondo noted that new jockey cams would allow television broadcasts to cut to that angle during the raceand also could allow bettors, fans, or connections of a horse choose to watch that feed during the race. He

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added that racing, with its fast results, is a perfect sport for the social media age and horse racing needs totake advantage.

Rotondo said a lot is about lifting the curtain. "We have a great sport, let's show it off."

Zimmerman said the industry has to come together and again offer a national marketing campaign. She saidtracks should have family friendly areas. She said such areas would help change an unfair reputation. Alongthe lines of opening the curtain, she said media like television should have access to stewards' decisionswhen they're reviewing a possible foul.

All of the ideas were listed on Twitter @BH_FAngst.

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