The sky is falling and it isn’t just raining. The latest example was the opening day per-capita handle at Santa Anita. 44,873 people bet an average of just $78 each. That’s down from $84 last year and down from $152 in 1986. Let me posit a question. If you were the CEO of a company that is showing those sorts of trends, do you think you are doing a good job?

There are a couple of different ways to look at this. One is that a lot of people are showing up at the track just to hang out with real horseplayers I guess. But a more positive way to look at it is, there there is a lot of money staying in people’s pockets, and the track needs to figure out a way to pry it out without limiting the choices to gambling.

Not everyone agrees with me, but I believe tracks need to make themselves over. Oh, I know Santa Anita spent $30 million a few years ago, but while fresh paint is important cosmetically, it doesn’t increase per capita betting. If you want to get more money from the patrons, either you have to make the gambling part more attractive or you have to have other ways to getting them to part with their money. Of course, nothing wrong with doing both.

I recently did a  piece on attracting millennial gamblers to horseracing and cited how Las Vegas is looking to appeal to them. In the casinos, slot and table revenues are down, to a great degree because millennials prefer games where skill is more important than luck. Horseracing fits that bill, but simply isn’t doing what it needs to do to attract the millennials. Even though gaming revenues are suffering, visitations to Vegas are still healthy. Why? Because Vegas can attract people for reasons other than gambling. Millennials will go for the shows, the nightclubs, and the restuarants.

Racetracks make a lot of the same mistakes other businesses make. They focus too much on getting new customers and too little on taking care of the customers they have. Vegas doesn’t make that mistake. The best customers are treated like royalty. Even the little old ladies playing the slots can earn free meals or other perquisites. Too little of that goes on at racetracks.

I was in Vegas betting at a sportsbook once. At a point, two guys in suits come up to me and offered me an embarassing amount of consideration if I’d keep my action in their book. Even after I told them I was only in town for the day, they still wanted to sign me up. In 40 plus years of going to the track, I can count on one hand the number of times anybody gave me any sort of special consideration.

My advice is two-pronged. Sign everybody up for some sort of rewards card, and when their action reaches a certain level, give them…a reward. You know how on-line places say, spend so much and get free shipping? You’d be surprised how many people try to spend enough to save a $10 UPS charge. Make $100 in bets and get a free soda, and you’d be suprised at how many of those $78 betters will come up with another $22 so they can get twenty cents worth of carbonated beverage (yes, it’s a bit of hyperbole but I’m making a point). Each track should provide every patron with a free version of the past performances, but just for their track. If you want the simulcast edition you can pay for that. Parking, admission, and seating – three other things on the list of rewards. Special days – the “A” customers don’t have to play second fiddle to the throngs that only show up on special days. You get the idea.

The second part of the idea is to refurbish the track to create venues that will further induce people to part with their money. Yes, I know there is a shopping center adjacent to Santa Anita, but it might as well be in Bakersfield for all the good it does. You want shopping that makes it convenient for a guy that just hit a nice Pick-4 to buy something on impulse for himself or the family. You go to the Forum shops in Caesars Palace, and you don’t see a bunch of cheap novelty stores. They have more upscale stuff. I think you also design it so you can enter all the higher end businesses from outside the track (with no admission) or inside the track. You don’t get from inside to the track without a stamp or something. There should be an upscale restaurant that is open the same hours as other restaurants. Maybe a movie theater. There should be a good sports bar, also open normal hours, and maybe a nightclub. After the races the entrance from the track into the bars/restaurants would be locked so you don’t have people wandering around the racing plant. How about a picnic area, like at Saratoga? Patio dining or watering holes. A food court. Free entertainment, and I don’t mean the post race concerts. Saratoga has a daily lineup of anonymous small bands. How about an indoor event venue so businesses can have corporate parties or Christmas parties during the day or at night? Design something so you can take the family to the track and make your bets without having to get a hall pass. I’m just spitballing here, but I’m sure you see the concept.

Instead of the track being a five hour hangout, make it so that patrons can continue the day. The track that comes closest in my mind is Saratoga, with its picnic grounds, food trucks, and the Carousel, plus breakfast at Saratoga, continuous entertainment during the day, and event venues. But even Saratoga doesn’t attract people once the races are over. They head to off track venues to have a nice dinner, drinks, or enjoy some nightlife. You have someone that just won a few hundred or a few thousand dollars and you’re going to let him spend it on a nice time somewhere else? Brilliant.

The people who manage tracks are not noted for thinking outside the box and they especially don’t get the new millennial gambler. Things have to change in a big way. You know what they say. Doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.