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Keeneland Handle Update

PLAYERSBOYCOTT.org - October 28, 2017
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Handle Update from Playersboycott.org - all 17 days of Keeneland's fall 2017 meet

Back in August, Keeneland made a calculated decision to hit horseplayers with a takeout increase. They raised WIN-PLACE-SHOW takeout to 17.50%, an increase of 9.375% vs. last meet's takeout rate of 16.00%. Takeout for all EXOTIC wagers except the pick5 was raised to 22.00%, an increase of 15.79% vs. last meet's takeout rate of 19.00%.

Keeneland - all 17 days of their fall 2017 meet:

Side by Side Comparison - Keeneland Fall 2016 vs. 2017 -- 17 Days 
Day 2016 Track Handle Races Field
Size		   vs.   Day 2017 Track Handle Races Field
Size		 Dollar
Change		 PCT
Change
Fri 10/7/2016 KEE 8,586,744 10 99   vs.   Fri 10/6/2017 KEE 8,568,658 10 96 -18,086 -0.21%
Sat 10/8/2016 KEE 15,927,452 10 96   vs.   Sat 10/7/2017 KEE 13,919,528 10 98 -2,007,924 -12.61%
Sun 10/9/2016 KEE 9,527,321 10 105   vs.   Sun 10/8/2017 KEE 6,579,460 10 92 -2,947,861 -30.94%
Wed 10/12/2016 KEE 5,794,495 8 83   vs.   Wed 10/11/2017 KEE 4,591,837 8 77 -1,202,658 -20.76%
Thu 10/13/2016 KEE 5,731,249 9 84   vs.   Thu 10/12/2017 KEE 6,144,889 10 99 +413,640 +7.22%
Fri 10/14/2016 KEE 7,682,129 10 86   vs.   Fri 10/13/2017 KEE 7,880,860 10 96 +198,731 +2.59%
Sat 10/15/2016 KEE 11,656,440 10 85   vs.   Sat 10/14/2017 KEE 11,594,151 10 98 -62,289 -0.53%
Sun 10/16/2016 KEE 6,586,587 9 81   vs.   Sun 10/15/2017 KEE 6,122,769 9 79 -463,818 -7.04%
Wed 10/19/2016 KEE 4,469,993 8 71   vs.   Wed 10/18/2017 KEE 4,484,605 8 66 +14,612 +0.33%
Thu 10/20/2016 KEE 7,138,535 9 78   vs.   Thu 10/19/2017 KEE 5,105,554 9 79 -2,032,981 -28.48%
Fri 10/21/2016 KEE 7,338,837 10 85   vs.   Fri 10/20/2017 KEE 7,169,651 10 97 -169,186 -2.31%
Sat 10/22/2016 KEE 11,148,167 10 94   vs.   Sat 10/21/2017 KEE 9,971,403 10 94 -1,176,764 -10.56%
Sun 10/23/2016 KEE 6,145,670 9 75   vs.   Sun 10/22/2017 KEE 5,781,520 9 73 -364,150 -5.93%
Wed 10/26/2016 KEE 4,194,796 8 70   vs.   Wed 10/25/2017 KEE 4,250,935 8 71 +56,139 +1.34%
Thu 10/27/2016 KEE 5,413,395 9 78   vs.   Thu 10/26/2017 KEE 5,167,197 9 93 -246,198 -4.55%
Fri 10/28/2016 KEE 6,528,236 10 89   vs.   Fri 10/27/2017 KEE 7,306,694 10 87 +778,458 +11.92%
Sat 10/29/2016 KEE 9,040,461 10 86   vs.   Sat 10/28/2017 KEE 6,949,542 10 78 -2,090,919 -23.13%


REPORT SUMMARY - Keeneland Fall 2016 vs. 2017 -- 17 Days 
Days 2016     Handle Races Field
Size		   vs.   Days 2017     Handle Races Field
Size		 Dollar
Change		 PCT
Change
17 TOTALS   132,910,507 159 1445   vs.   17 TOTALS     121,589,253 160 1473 -11,321,254 -8.52%
  Per Race   835,915   9.09   vs.     Per Race     759,933   9.21 -75,982 -9.09%
  Per Runner   91,980   1,445   vs.     Per Runner   82,545   1,473 -9,435 -10.26%

DOWN -$11.32 Million (-8.52%)



Belmont during Keeneland's fall 2017 meet:

Side by Side Comparison - Belmont 2016 vs. 2017 -- during Keeneland's fall 2017 meet 
Day 2016 Track Handle Races Field
Size		   vs.   Day 2017 Track Handle Races Field
Size		 Dollar
Change		 PCT
Change
Fri 10/7/2016 BEL 7,420,488 9 67   vs.   Fri 10/6/2017 BEL 7,545,462 9 70 +124,974 +1.68%
Sat 10/8/2016 BEL 15,024,108 11 81   vs.   Sat 10/7/2017 BEL 15,535,315 11 92 +511,207 +3.40%
Sun 10/9/2016 BEL 5,345,667 9 63   vs.   Sun 10/8/2017 BEL 9,224,079 9 79 +3,878,412 +72.55%
Mon 10/10/2016 BEL 5,422,385 10 56   vs.   Mon 10/9/2017 BEL 5,386,422 9 61 -35,963 -0.66%
Thu 10/13/2016 BEL 5,728,680 9 72   vs.   Thu 10/12/2017 BEL 6,575,821 9 84 +847,141 +14.79%
Fri 10/14/2016 BEL 7,149,539 9 78   vs.   Fri 10/13/2017 BEL 7,338,283 9 74 +188,744 +2.64%
Sat 10/15/2016 BEL 10,459,515 9 81   vs.   Sat 10/14/2017 BEL 11,866,807 10 81 +1,407,292 +13.45%
Sun 10/16/2016 BEL 7,548,571 9 81   vs.   Sun 10/15/2017 BEL 8,103,407 9 76 +554,836 +7.35%
Wed 10/19/2016 BEL 6,056,594 9 73   vs.   Wed 10/18/2017 BEL 5,613,509 9 80 -443,085 -7.32%
Thu 10/20/2016 BEL 6,244,614 9 73   vs.   Thu 10/19/2017 BEL 5,788,511 9 71 -456,103 -7.30%
Fri 10/21/2016 BEL 5,901,693 9 65   vs.   Fri 10/20/2017 BEL 6,292,190 9 62 +390,497 +6.62%
Sat 10/22/2016 BEL 9,660,082 11 78   vs.   Sat 10/21/2017 BEL 13,182,998 11 92 +3,522,916 +36.47%
Sun 10/23/2016 BEL 6,150,287 9 63   vs.   Sun 10/22/2017 BEL 9,271,111 9 72 +3,120,824 +50.74%
Wed 10/26/2016 BEL 5,713,006 9 76   vs.   Wed 10/25/2017 BEL 4,834,031 9 66 -878,975 -15.39%
Thu 10/27/2016 BEL 5,044,675 9 77   vs.   Thu 10/26/2017 BEL 6,520,989 9 82 +1,476,314 +29.26%
Fri 10/28/2016 BEL 6,895,805 9 70   vs.   Fri 10/27/2017 BEL 7,035,852 9 76 +140,047 +2.03%
Sat 10/29/2016 BEL 11,820,350 10 94   vs.   Sat 10/28/2017 BEL 12,871,463 10 91 +1,051,113 +8.89%


REPORT SUMMARY - Belmont 2016 vs. 2017 -- during Keeneland's fall 2017 meet 
Days 2016     Handle Races Field
Size		   vs.   Days 2017     Handle Races Field
Size		 Dollar
Change		 PCT
Change
17 TOTALS   127,586,059 159 1248   vs.   17 TOTALS     142,986,250 159 1309 +15,400,191 +12.07%
  Per Race   802,428   7.85   vs.     Per Race     899,285   8.23 +96,857 +12.07%
  Per Runner   102,232   1,248   vs.     Per Runner   109,233   1,309 +7,001 +6.85%

UP +$15.4 Million +12.07%



Santa Anita during Keeneland's fall 2017 meet:

Side by Side Comparison - Santa Anita 2016 vs. 2017 -- during Keeneland's fall 2017 meet 
Day 2016 Track Handle Races Field
Size		   vs.   Day 2017 Track Handle Races Field
Size		 Dollar
Change		 PCT
Change
Fri 10/7/2016 SAX 4,942,175 8 68   vs.   Fri 10/6/2017 SAX 7,418,193 8 79 +2,476,018 +50.10%
Sat 10/8/2016 SAX 10,183,133 10 88   vs.   Sat 10/7/2017 SAX 9,297,160 10 88 -885,973 -8.70%
Sun 10/9/2016 SAX 7,827,377 9 81   vs.   Sun 10/8/2017 SAX 8,507,964 9 76 +680,587 +8.69%
Mon 10/10/2016 SAX 6,233,741 9 89   vs.   Mon 10/9/2017 SAX 6,811,953 9 89 +578,212 +9.28%
Fri 10/14/2016 SAX 5,069,470 8 58   vs.   Fri 10/13/2017 SAX 5,601,232 8 60 +531,762 +10.49%
Sat 10/15/2016 SAX 7,484,320 9 73   vs.   Sat 10/14/2017 SAX 9,036,244 9 87 +1,551,924 +20.74%
Sun 10/16/2016 SAX 6,733,013 9 79   vs.   Sun 10/15/2017 SAX 7,793,776 9 77 +1,060,763 +15.75%
Thu 10/20/2016 SAX 3,697,401 8 54   vs.   Thu 10/19/2017 SAX 3,822,229 8 64 +124,828 +3.38%
Fri 10/21/2016 SAX 4,823,020 8 59   vs.   Fri 10/20/2017 SAX 4,976,324 8 62 +153,304 +3.18%
Sat 10/22/2016 SAX 6,664,345 9 68   vs.   Sat 10/21/2017 SAX 7,456,996 9 69 +792,651 +11.89%
Sun 10/23/2016 SAX 7,108,799 9 72   vs.   Sun 10/22/2017 SAX 7,227,757 9 74 +118,958 +1.67%
Thu 10/27/2016 SAX 4,146,750 8 62   vs.   Thu 10/26/2017 SAX 4,247,877 8 65 +101,127 +2.44%
Fri 10/28/2016 SAX 4,476,522 8 59   vs.   Fri 10/27/2017 SAX 5,225,448 8 68 +748,926 +16.73%
Sat 10/29/2016 SAX 8,189,626 9 77   vs.   Sat 10/28/2017 SAX 10,080,971 11 101 +1,891,345 +23.09%


REPORT SUMMARY - Santa Anita 2016 vs. 2017 -- during Keeneland's fall 2017 meet 
Days 2016     Handle Races Field
Size		   vs.   Days 2017     Handle Races Field
Size		 Dollar
Change		 PCT
Change
14 TOTALS   87,579,692 121 987   vs.   14 TOTALS     97,504,124 123 1059 +9,924,432 +11.33%
  Per Race   723,799   8.16   vs.     Per Race     792,716   8.61 +68,917 +9.52%
  Per Runner   88,733   987   vs.     Per Runner   92,072   1,059 +3,339 +3.76%

UP +$9.92 Million +11.33%



Recap:

Keeneland announced a takeout increase back in August.

Win Place Show was hiked to 17.50% (the maximum allowed by Kentucky state law.) --This is an increase of 9.375% vs. the previous takeout rate of 16.00%.

Exacta, Double, Trifecta, Superfecta, Pick3, and Pick4 were hiked to 22.00% (again the maximum allowed by Kentucky state law.) --This is an increase of 15.79% vs. the previous takeout rate of 19.00%.

We polled HANA membership. 63% said they wanted a boycott. 28% said no. And 9% said other.

Based on that we organized a boycott.

Keeneland's fall 2017 meet is now in the books.

Keeneland was down more than $11.3M or about -8.52% vs. their fall 2016 meet.

How much of that -8.52% is because we announced a boycott -- and how much is simply the market speaking is anyone's guess.

At first glance, -8.52% might not look like it's all that bad for them.

As a few of you with jobs in the industry have pointed out to me -- looking ONLY at last year's fall numbers: Keeneland is likely revenue neutral right now, or maybe even revenue positive. (But if so, not by much.)

But I think putting blinkers on and looking ONLY at last year's fall numbers would be a huge mistake.

Last year at this time:

Keeneland was the big dog on the block among the A tracks. They out-handled both Belmont and Santa Anita. They ranked #1 in market share vs. the other tracks they compete with for handle dollars.

Fast forward to now:

Keeneland has been replaced as the big dog on the block. Belmont now ranks #1 in market share among the tracks competing for handle dollars this fall.

This is significant.

Keeneland lost ground to its competitors.

At the same time that Keeneland was down -$11.32M and -8.52%, their primary competitors Belmont and Santa Anita, were UP a combined total of +$25.32M or an average of +11.77%

These are terrible results for Keeneland.

The question isn't whether or not Keeneland had a takeout increase and underperformed the market by a good -20%.

The question is whether or not anyone is listening.

--Jeff Platt, HANA President






• PLAYERSBOYCOTT.org is asking horseplayers to consider the idea that horseplayers are consumers and that every handle dollar bet at Keeneland is a vote for higher takeout everywhere.

* About the above numbers: The above numbers were compiled by horseplayers who spent volunteer man-hours combing through the charts hand keying pool amounts into a spreadsheet. If you notice an obvious mistake please let us know by email at: info @ hanaweb . org (remove the blank spaces first)
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