Bookshelf: Thirty Tons a Day (Chapter 4)

 

 

             

Thirty Tons a Day: The Rough-Riding Education of a Neophyte Racetrack Operator (Bill Veeck and Ed Linn)

Chapter 4: But Is It Promotable?

Veeck opens this chapter by breaking down the $7.50 "profit" the track expected to make on every $100 in handle after the 85/15 split with takeout and the 50/50 split of that 15% with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:

• $3.49 (purses)
• $2.68 (payroll)
• $1.33 (tote services) 

And then he summarizes the promotions and adjustments management team made to attract fans to the track and make the on-track experience more enjoyable for attendees:

• Speeches to 400 different groups
• Punctual, 27-minute intervals between races
• Potted petunias to the first 5,000 women to attend the races on Mother's Day
• "What's Your Beef?" raffle for customer feedback that included the giveaway of a bull and two calves for the winner, and a McDonald's gift certificate to all who contributed more than 4,000 notes with feedback
• Lucky Chair Days that featured giveaways, including a thousand hot dogs, a thousand buns, and a thousand Cokes
• Joe Fan Handicap race contest that resulted in the no-expense giveaway of a race horse named Buck's Delight to a fan

And finally he closes this chapter with this excerpt:

Is racing promotable, though? I can't approve it by the record, but having spent two years laboring in those vineyards I know absolutely that it is. I don't think it is; I know it is. Call it a basic feel of the mood that had been developing, or call it the gift of prophecy[.]

It's certainly a refreshing perspective from a racetrack owner, since there's very little evidence that it's the belief at most of the tracks our pacers have competed at.