Photo by Howard Owens
After The Batavian's Jan. 7 article about the opening of the winter racing season at Batavia Downs, one reader raised questions -- well-informed questions -- about just how well the winter meets are doing for the race track and casino.
On Thursday, Don Hoover, director of live racing for Western Regional Off-Track Betting, sat down with The Batavian to address the issues raised by the reader.
First, the history of the winter meet at Batavia Downs
The meet is in its third season. Before 2023, the race track in Buffalo hosted a three-month winter meet but the storms of 2022 distributed the season, causing several race-day cancelations. Buffalo decided to compress its racing schedule into a season that starts in March.
The horsemen are accustomed to year-round racing, and for many of them, their income stream depends on it, Hoover said.
"Now we're faced with the possibility of no racing in Western New York for three months," Hoover said. "That leads to the question of whether some would have to get out of the business. Would they ship to another racetrack and maybe stay there?"
The horseman's association approached management at Batavia Downs and proposed a January and February racing schedule, promising to cover any losses incurred by the track.
The horsemen promising the track wouldn't lose money on the races is a key point, Hoover stressed.
"We have a shared agreement that benefits both Batavia Downs and the local horsemen so that they can maintain their racing without much interruption and we can provide a venue for them without incurring any significant cost," Hoover said.
The agreement covers direct costs related to each race, not other ongoing operational costs, such as the salaries of permanent staff who might work during the events.
Is keeping winter racing a good business decision?
"I have personally wrestled with that question because it's not really in monetary terms, and the angst that it just brings about naturally due to the constant question of -- are you racing? Are you not racing? Are you racing? Are you not? Is it too cold? Is it a safe track? Those items are hard to wrestle with on a daily basis," Hoover said. "If we look at it as a pure business decision -- I guess, what we would have to do now since this is our third winter -- I guess what we would have to do now is sit down and get the food and beverage revenue and see if we can see a pattern. We know that we do more business on Mondays and Thursdays when we race because otherwise, the clubhouse wouldn't be open.
"The clubhouse is open. We have food specials. People come and attend the races there and eat and drink. So we would have to try to analyze exactly what we could put in dollars and cents as to what ancillary income we get derived specifically by racing in the winter."
What Hoover calls "ancillary income" doesn't count against direct racing expenses.
Even so, it can be hard to separate additional revenue on race days when Batavia Downs has other promotions going on throughout the winter, such as hotel specials, concerts, and group events, "all the things we do here as a corporation to drive people to the property."
He does believe, he said, that racing does get extra people to the track, though attendance is much, much smaller than the regular meet.
"It's logical that we would get extra people to the property by holding racing," Hoover said. "They are people who are harness racing fans, and they wouldn't be here except for that fact."
Is there enough attendance to justify opening the clubhouse?
"It's a work in progress where we look to see how to do that without losing money," Hoover said. "We have one bartender. People order drinks. We've paired down what foods are available. It used to be that they could order food and it would be brought up to them. Now we just have specials for right there. So we've tried to look at all the numbers on it and come up with a specific plan where we won't lose money by having the clubhouse open."
Our reader thinks attendance would be better on another weekday than Monday, such as going to two days, perhaps Tuesday and Thursday or Wednesday and Friday.
"Well, Mondays happen to be our biggest handle day," Hoover said.
During the regular meet, the first post time is 6 p.m., giving people who work, especially in Rochester and Buffalo, time to get off work and make it to the track.
In winter, with lower attendance, it puts more of a strain on staff expense to have a later post time. The 3 p.m. post time in the winter also eliminates going head-to-head against racing at Monticello.
"The staff doesn't have to go home and come back," Hoover said. "The staff doesn't have to accrue extraordinary overtime. It's not dark yet. We have the track crew still here. We don't have to send them home and bring them back in, so we thought the combination of all those things regarding staffing, overtime, and the time of day was beneficial for us to make that schedule for the three o'clock on Mondays and Thursdays."
Why is Monday your biggest handle day?
There is less competition on Mondays, Hoover said. That is primarily important for off-track betting.
For the live handle, there isn't much difference between Monday and Thursday.
Is it correct that the off-track handle generates about 2% in revenue for OTB and the live-track revenue is about 20%?
Yes and no, Hoover said. When you factor in BataviaBets.com, phone bets, and OTB's own branches, the off-track handle increases to about 2.6%.
What is the typical revenue for a winter race?
Hoover said it is currently about $7,500 to $8,000. That doesn't include anything from food and beverage or what might be spent by race attendees on the casino floor.
Later on Thursday, The Batavian spoke with CEO Byron Brown, who said winter racing is important to the operation of OTB.
"Winter racing really helps to strengthen the relationship between Batavia Downs and the horsemen," Brown said. "Also, as we work to make this a premier entertainment destination in New York State, it's just another reason for people to come to Batavia Downs."
