Horseracing’s big days are great. Lots of people, lots of pageantry, TV coverage, a full press box.

And then there is the rest of the year.

I don’t think it is about promotion. Those of us who love the track don’t need advertisements or urging. We’re already captive. And unfortunately those who aren’t captive could hardly be expected to see an advertisement and think, “hey, let’s become horseplayers!” If you are a complete neophyte, it’s pretty frustrating to think about going to the track, watching horses run around an oval nine or ten times a day, and basically have only the slightest clue about which horse to bet. I have an uncle that goes to the races four or five times a year and still just bets his lucky numbers. He has a blast and I think it is great that there are fans like that. But four or five times a year is not the strategy that saves horseracing.

For most people a day at the track is like a day at the amusement park. Once in a while it is a fun thing to do, but a steady diet? And like the amusement park most occasional racegoers go with the intention of losing their $40 and still feeling like they had a good time, and we’ll see you next year.

The problems with race tracks are myriad, and have been discussed to death. Many of the facilities are crumbling. They are not really family friendly places (with a few exceptions).They treat their best fans (assuming they know who they are) as if they were simply a meal ticket. Most of the potential fans not already involved think the races are fixed or drug-riddled or somehow corrupt. And even for those who like horseracing, online betting sites just make it too easy to not have to spend five hours at the track.

One of the things sports fans need is someone to root for. Like the Cubs or the Broncos or the German soccer team. In horseracing you root for the horse you bet in the upcoming race. When the race is over, it’s on to the next event. You only like your horse if it wins (but it isn’t a real affection), whereas the Cubs or the Mets are imprinted on you, win or lose. You root in spite of their record. You don’t have a consistent “team” you can root for. In fact, you’re lucky if you get two seasons to root for your favorite horse. As I wrote the other day, owners more and more are moving horses to the stud barn after a black type win. If you’re lucky your horse will race, oh, on average six times a year. If you are a hard-core handicapper, the last thing you want to do is become emotionally involved with a horse.

No, it isn’t like rooting for the Cubs, although some days your selections have as much of a chance as the Cubs do of winning the National League pennant. It’s hard to fall in love with a horse. Once you get to know them, it seems like they get hurt or retire. You can root for trainers in a, “Gee I hope Chad Brown unseats Todd Pletcher one of these years at Saratoga” sort of way, but you can’t expect to generate new fans with the exhortation, come root for D. Wayne Lukas. Rooting for trainers is almost like loving baseball and rooting for Theo Epstein (the Cubs  GM). You root for the players.

So tracks wind up stuck with promoting the “excitement” of racing. They certainly can’t say, come to the track and win a lot of money because there is a pretty good chance you won’t. They can’t even advertise like casinos do – we have the loosest slots in town, or we pay out at a 97.6% rate. Can you imagine that? People are addicted to slots to the point where they have tournaments like there is some sort of skill involved in pushing the button. Once betting involves some skill, their interest level apparently goes way down.

How does NASCAR do it? Do you think it is just the excitement of watching drivers make left hand turns for two hours? No, it is that the drivers have a fan base. You go out and root for your guy, who even has his own number. And you know everything about him, including his (or her) shoe size. Come to think of it, what is California Chrome’s shoe size? You argue with other (what do they call NASCAR fans? NASCAR-ites?) about which driver is the best. The NASCAR owners are equally well known.

And as I’ve said in a number of blogs, organizations like NASCAR or the NFL tightly control the product. It’s a small club with only those people at the top of their sport. They have a commissioner. They have one set of rules for everyone. They have a centralized drug enforcement group. When you have a Donald Sterling owning a team, you kick him out of the club.

Let’s face it. Horseracing isn’t going to be for everyone. But then again, neither is NASCAR or baseball. I’ll tell you a big difference between NASCAR and horseracing. For NASCAR you pretty much can get by with a six-pack, a sunny day and two hours to watch the same race. It’s a lot more work to be a horseplayer. You spend hours before the races, and hours at the races, and then more hours after the races getting ready for tomorrow’s races. Well, unless you just bet your lucky numbers.

All of the obvious things have been tried. The average age of a serious horse racing fan seems to go up every year. It’s time to have a national racing commission and it is time to start thinking outside the box. Race tracks, other than the Taj Mahals of racing like Saratoga or Santa Anita or Del Mar, are losing attendance while the on-line betting sites are gaining at their expense. Handle goes up, purses go down. Not the first choice as a business model.

So tell me what you think? What would bring someone new to the track and make them a lifelong fan?