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how to turn sports bettors into horseplayers

How to Turn Sports Bettors into Horseplayers

Sports bettors don’t have much to get down on these days; keep them busy by turning them into horseplayers.

Per Business Wire, sports betting should grow by $144.4 billion from 2020 through 2024. Warren Buffet’s company, Berkshire-Hathaway, owns Business Wire. That lends much credibility to the stats. But as the recent coronavirus pandemic showed us, bookies and sportsbook operators must offer their customers more than just sports betting options. Like any good business, sportsbook owners must find new revenue streams, market those streams, and, hopefully, profit from those streams, and that includes making them into horseplayers.

That’s why it’s important for bookmakers to not only push for betting dollars from their books but to also offer options found in their Pay Per Head Casino. But casino betting options aren’t alone.

Every Pay Per Head agent has access to a digital racebook. Their online racebook can add big profits to their bottom lines. Racebook betting provides advantages to players they can’t find betting on sports. An online racebook also provides advantages to bookies that don’t exist in their sportsbooks.

Let us show you how to turn sports bettors into horseplayers. Be sure that once your sports bettors become horseplayers they won’t stop betting on sports. Think of horse racing as an add-on service, something that helps you gain more profit from your customers while satisfying their entertainment and wagering requirements.

History of Horse Racing in the U.S.

Before adding horse racing to your menu of betting options, it’s important to understand how important the Sport of Kings is to the betting industry.

British settlers laid out the first horse racing track on Long Island in 1665. The first Kentucky Derby happened on May 17, 1875. In 1894, race track and horse owners created the American Jockey Club.

Horse racing is the first sport to adopt online betting. That adoption is why unlike other sports, horse racing doesn’t rely on spectator support. Although some events like the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup do rely on filling the stands with fans, most racetracks rely on limited fan support if any at all.

This makes horse racing a flexible betting option for both horseplayers and racebook operators. Without the need for fans, horse races can take place almost uninterrupted no matter what else happens in the sports world.

Sports betting has limitations; turn up the volume by offering horses.

Significant differences exist between sports betting and horse race wagering for players. By understanding these differences bookies like you can get a handle on how to promote your online racebook.

Sports betting is awesome. It’s the backbone of the industry. But, there are limitations for both players and bookies.

Sports betting player and bookie limitations

Sports are seasonal.

All sports leagues don’t happen all the time. If players bet exclusively on football, they must wait for the football season. Basketball bettors wait for hoops season. Baseball bettors wait for MLB to start.

A game can last a long time.  

Sports don’t happen every day. Sometimes, it’s difficult for a sports bettor to find a game on which they want to wager.

Live betting can be hit or miss.

Live betting a game is one of the single most important developments in the sports betting industry. But, sportsbooks can’t offer, nor do they want to offer, live wagering on every single game. Also, live betting has limitations. Players must pay attention to the game and be ready to live bet it.

Sporting events are affected by other events.

The Coronavirus Pandemic showed that numerous things can affect sports. The pandemic shut down both the NBA and NHL seasons, delayed the start of the 2020 Major League Baseball Season, and affected La Liga, the English Premier League, and the Champions League.

Japan had to cancel the 2020 Olympics and move to 2021. The 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic also affected horse racing. But it affected it on a much smaller scale.

Why horse racing can weather disruptive world events

There are reasons why thoroughbred racing in the United States can weather world events. Most of those reasons have to do with horse racing’s athletes.

The racetrack and racebook industry’s main athletes are horses.

Horses don’t catch viruses that affect human beings. Horses also don’t rely on paychecks. If there’s an issue with the United States’ economy, horses won’t rush to their 401Ks to sell. Horses mustn’t stand in line to get into grocery stores.

Different breeds of horses exist. The horses that run on racetracks throughout the world are called thoroughbreds.

A thoroughbred is a horse raised and trained to run. Thoroughbreds aren’t workhorses or wild horses. Racehorses are bred to do two things: run racetracks and create other racehorses. It’s impossible to turn a thoroughbred athlete into a different species of horse.

Some can become riding horses. But competitive thoroughbred athletes during their racing days,  like Tiznow, require a ton of space after their racing days. Tiznow has 90 acres at Winstar Farm to himself. He doesn’t get along with other horses.

Sort of sounds like great athletes in other sports, right?

Horses, especially thoroughbreds, require a lot of care. We mentioned how Tiznow has 90 acres to himself. That’s because he’s a major producer of other thoroughbreds. He’s a top sire.

But during their racing days, horses also require care. This is why during the Covid-19 Pandemic, California Governor Gavin Newsom allowed Santa Anita in Arcadia, CA, and Golden Gate Fields near San Francisco to run races, even if they didn’t allow the human crowds to gather.

The State of California allowed tracks to run races because thoroughbreds must run. They can’t sit in the barn all day. They must get exercise. That’s the most important part of a horse’s care.

Most racetracks throughout the United States, heck, throughout the world, allowed races to go on as much as planned. The industry didn’t take as huge of a hit during the pandemic as those in the sports world because thoroughbreds are unique athletes.

Why sports bettors should also wager on horses and how you can promote your racebook

Now that we understand what makes horse racing unique, it’s time to discuss facts about horse racing that will make it attractive to your sports bettors to turn them into horseplayers. Convincing sports bettors to wager on horse races is a matter of cultivating a desire. Bookies do that by discussing the entertainment value, ease of finding betting options, and potential player profit.

Make sure to check out this WikiHow on betting on horse races. Send the link to your sports bettors. They’ll be more comfortable betting on the ponies if they feel like they know what they’re doing. 

Entertainment value for horseplayers

Entertainment value is the main reason in 2020 Churchill Downs switched the date of the Kentucky Derby from May 2 to September 5. The Derby has become much bigger than just a horse race. It’s an event on par with the Super Bowl, a major boxing match, or The Masters’ golf tournament. Churchill Downs wanted to keep the entertainment value and running the Derby in front of zero fans doesn’t add to the event’s entertainment value.

But there’s entertainment value in every horse race. Think of each horse race like the roll of the dice at a craps table. Once the gates open, so many different things can happen. In craps, we wonder if the shooter will roll the point or a 7 or some other number.

In horse racing, we wonder which horse will get to the finish line first. If a player wagered on a horse in that race, the entertainment value goes up even more. Will my horse get to the finish line first?

Horseplayers betting options

Unlike sports like football, basketball, and baseball, betting options exist in horse racing every day. Take a typical week in 2020, March 23 through March 27. In that week, the Coronavirus Pandemic gripped the United States. Yet, the thoroughbred industry managed to run at least 2 tracks every day during the week.

Monday, March 23 – Will Rogers Downs and Fonner Park

Tuesday, March 24 – Will Rogers Downs and Fonner Park

Wednesday, March 25 – Fonner Park, Gulfstream Park, Tampa Bay Downs, and Will Rogers Downs

Thursday, March 26 – Gulfstream Park, Golden Gate Fields, Turfway Park, and Remington Park

Friday, March 27 – Santa Anita, Oaklawn, Golden Gate, Tampa Bay, Gulfstream, Remington, Turfway

Most racetracks run races on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, March 28, Gulfstream had its biggest day of the winter meet. The Hallandale, Florida racetrack ran the Grade 1 Florida Derby, one of the most important Triple Crown prep races of the year.

But players mustn’t stick with domestic racetracks. International racing happens on most days as well. On Wednesday, March 25, Australia ran races even though, like in the U.S., they were gripped by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

As bookies might expect, when the world isn’t constrained by a massive event, even more tracks run races. Players mustn’t wait for betting options. In thoroughbred racing, those options happen every day of the week and weekend.

Potential horse racing player profit 

Horse racing allows bettors to make more with smaller investments. In sports wagering, bettors often make 90% profit from their investment. If a horseplayer wagers on Kansas City to cover the spread against San Francisco, their profit is 90% of the investment. The other 10% goes to the bookie. That’s the juice, or vig.

In horse racing, the favorite will produce odds above even money. A player who bets a horse to win can often find odds of 2/1. Sometimes, those odds are even higher.

2/1 horse racing odds pays $6 for every $2 wagered. In horse racing, the lowest players can wager on a horse to win is $2. For every $2 wagered on a horse to win, the payout yields $4 in profit.

If a player wagers $20 to win on a horse at 2/1 odds and the horse wins, the player gets back $60. That’s a $40 profit for a $20 wager. A $100 wager on a 2/1 horse pays back $300. A $200 wager on a 2/1 horse pays back $600.

Of course, it’s much tougher to pick a winning horse than it is to pick a team against the spread. So many things can happen in a horse race. However, the payouts make it worthwhile and the odds can make the wager more exciting.

Every sports bettor should consider wagering on horses based on potential profit margin alone. Make sure your players know about the huge potential profits!

Why every bookie should promote horse racing

After reading about potential profit, bookies might wonder why they’d ever turn their players onto horse racing. After all, most books can’t afford to take $600 dollar hits on $200 wagers without juice. This section is about putting your mind at ease. So, don’t decide that offering horse racing isn’t for you just yet!

Finding winning horses is hard

Professional horseplayers find it difficult to find winning equines. Horse racing is a unique sport. It takes time to develop the right handicapping skills. Finding a winning horse in any horse race is part skill and luck. Once the gates open, nobody knows what will happen.

Here’s a story to remember. On the eve of the 1979 Belmont Stakes, race favorite Spectacular Bid stepped onto a pin. While on the track, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner showed no signs that he didn’t want to race. In fact, Bid was on the “muscle”, a term used to describe racehorses that are ready to roll.

Spectacular Bid went off at 1/5. The chalk (that’s what we call favorites) took the lead before the final turn and looked like an easy winner. But the big fave couldn’t hold on. If professional horseplayers have trouble finding winners in races with reams of information like the Belmont Stakes, you can imagine how hard it is to find the winner in a $5,000 claiming race at Will Rogers Downs!

Most sports bettors wager minimal amounts

Bookies should think of their digital racebooks the way they think of their digital casinos. They don’t want the digital racebook to take the place of their sportsbook. What they do want are $5, $10, maybe up to $20 bets.

The trick, like in the casino, is to get horseplayers to make multiple $5 and $10 wagers on as many racing days as possible. Eventually, all those $5 and $10 wagers add up to big revenue. It’s called volume betting and it can lead to massive bookie profits.

Bookies can set maximum win amounts.

Just like other online racebook owners, Pay  Per Head agents can set max win amounts. Max win amounts determine how much a player can win on any given race. So, for example, if the max win amount set on the Kentucky Derby is $1,000, that’s the most a player can win on the Derby. It doesn’t matter if they hit a Pick 3, a win bet, an exacta, or a trifecta.

The most they can make is $1,000 no matter what wagers they placed. For more info on how to run your digital racebook, call Pay Per Head at 800-605-4767.

Increase revenue and profit with horseplayers

The oldest betting sport in the United States remains one of the most profitable. Bookies should offer wagering in their digital racebooks to every one of their players. Agents should also promote horse racing wagering due to its entertainment value, low minimum betting requirements, and potential player profit.

Adding horse racing to a bookie’s betting options menu is bound to increase revenue and profit. What are you waiting for? Send an email or text blast to your players today about how much fun they can have, and how much money they can potentially make, wagering on horse races!

Have your players at a per head operation that doesn’t offer horses? Come on over to PayPerHead. We have an irresistible promotion that will make it a no brainer and moving your package is quick, easy and seamless; all your players will know is that their book just got better. Reach out and talk to an account specialist today. 

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