HBPA members see great potential in fixed rate betting
A pair of executives for Horsemen’s affiliates for the Protection and Compassionate Association believe that fixed-odds bets have the potential to bring in significant new customers from an attractive demographic (like younger ) while improving the staking product for existing customers.
Speaking in a panel at the March 3 National HBPA conference in Oaklawn Park hotel in Hot Springs, Ark., Dave Basler, executive director of the Ohio HBPA, and Ed Fenasci, chief executive officer of the Louisiana HBPA, both said they believe fixed-rate bets on horse racing can be possible. develop this sport.
Fenasci notes that when looking at international betting on horse racing, younger players prefer a fixed odds approach. In fixed odds, if a player bets a horse at 6-1, that price will be fixed by the dealer, as opposed to pari-mutuel bets, where the price of the horse fluctuates based on bet amount for each horse in the field until the gates open.
This appeals to younger race bettors which are always elusive, Fenasci said, noting that the topic of reaching younger players has been a theme in countless racing conferences in the past. during the past 25 years. “This is one of the aspects of fixed-rate betting that interests me the most because it brings the excitement of horse racing to a much larger audience.”
Basler also sees the great potential of fixed-rate bets to reach new customers, and he also notes that the flexibility of fixed-rate bets, compared to pari-mutuel bets, has potential offer a more interesting staking product to existing customers.
“There are a number of opportunities for advanced bets in the United States,” says Basler. We talked offline about several possible things. “Let’s say you have a bet race with only six horses and 3-5 favorites in it; chances are the bookmaker will remove that 3-5 from the pool altogether and decide value everyone else as if the horse hadn’t entered the race, so it makes for an undisputed race for everyone and has the potential to dramatically increase our handling.