Seems that Churchill Downs was blowing smoke up Wall Street‘s keister about how well a delayed, spectator-less Kentucky Derby would perform. Last weekend’s Run for the Roses saw betting handle of $79.5 million, down 49% from last year. All races run on Sept. 5 saw an aggregate handle of $126 million, half of 2019’s $251 million. TV ratings were also in the tank. 8.8 million viewers tuned in, compared to double that last year. JP Morgan analyst Daniel Politzer blamed a heavy slate of sports competition: “we attribute this decline to the shift in timing from the first Saturday in May to Labor Day weekend, the Derby being the second leg of the Triple Crown this year (Belmont ran June 20th), as well as competing programming (i.e., college football, U.S. Open Tennis, NBA playoffs, etc.).” However you slice it, CHDN predicted that Coronavirus would be no big thing for the race, a forecast that came up short by several furlongs.
So much to comment on… Yes, horse racing is dying, and the coronavirus is is piling on it… I am itching to visit Circa, Resorts World is not on my radar, I doubt I could talk my wife into even checking it out… 15% positivity rate is horrible, Nevada needs to get it together. Super Bowl future book bets are like Personal Seat Licenses, its like giving an interest free loan to billionaires, but I admit I place them when in Las Vegas, they have the potential to give you months of good action… Something is wrong with our country when billionaires can hide political donations, Citizens United was perhaps the worst Supreme Court decision ever, second place goes to the same court for gutting the Voting Rights Act, the reason they gave for that was “there is no longer a racism problem”…