Noting the unique experience offered —even compared with the heights of any sport — retired major league baseball player Jayson Werth believes racing needs to find creative ways to bring more people in as owners.
As the keynote speaker Aug. 13 at the Racing and Gaming Conference at Saratoga, Werth, who reached baseball’s heights as a World Series winner and an All-Star, served up that idea while recounting his experience as a co-owner of this year’s Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch.
“I’ve made a point lately of saying ‘co-owner’ as my partners get mad when I say ‘owner,’ ” Werth said with a laugh. He also joked that attending Tuesday’s event populated by a number of gaming executives might help his effort to wipe out some casino debts.
While Werth acknowledged that the gambling aspect of racing helped bring him to the sport, he said racing needs to bring more people to the sport through the ownership experience.
“I’m here to tell you that what we have in horse racing is every bit as exciting as winning in other pro sports and something that I believe more people should experience,” Werth said. “The problem is how to get into the sport. New [microshare] owners like Commonwealth and MyRacehorse are kind of the first ones over the wall and have created opportunities.
“But the sport remains tough to get into. That’s something I’d like to change. I believe it hasn’t yet seen its Industrial Revolution.”
Werth noted that rule changes in baseball have expedited the game and fans have embraced those changes, as seen through increased attendance. He believes horse racing also needs to be willing to make changes.
“It’s such a great sport and we have such an amazing foundation to build upon,” Werth said. “I believe if we combine modern technology and creative marketing, we can attract a broader genre of people into the industry and grow a fan base through ownership. There’s something we could accomplish there.
“I believe there could be a resurgence in the sport like we’ve never seen. Everybody loves horses, and what if we gave everyone a chance to become an owner, not just a bettor?”
Werth said racing needs to realize that a strength is the sense of community experienced by fans at a track such as Saratoga Race Course and by owners participating in the sport. He said that feeling draws many of the fans to the track and the sport needs to market that. He noted that in winning a World Series he initially celebrated with his Philadelphia Phillies teammates before visiting family and friends; in racing, he loves that he’s able to celebrate with those closest to him during the event.
Werth said along those lines of evolving the sport, the industry will have to continue its commitment to aftercare and build on those efforts.
“Keep going with this sport — the purses, the big races, the events, the concerts — all the things around the sport that make it great,” Werth said. “And most importantly, keep taking better care of these horses and putting money toward the aftercare programs.
“I think this is among the most important things this industry can do to change the stigma of the sport. When I talk to people about the sport, that’s the first thing they ask about. I tell them that the sport has changed and I encourage them to look at what the industry has done. Aftercare is real. So continue to do that. The sport and these animals are iconic.”
Werth has owned horses for three years, initially buying fillies. He marvels that the first colt he went in on, Dornoch, has reached racing’s heights.
“[Ownership] has literally brought me back to life as a retired athlete,” Werth said. “The sport has the ability to bring out the competitive juices that we once had on the field that basically are lost in retirement. I think it is one of the coolest parts of the sport.”
Source link : https://www.americasbestracing.net/the-sport/2024-world-series-champ-werth-believes-ownership-can-bring-people-horse-racing
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Publish date : 2024-08-13 21:52:46
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