Convenient Wagering

Outside of the racing world there aren't many places for a member of the general public to easily place bets on racehorses. Besides OTB’s, tracks themselves, and online betting services such as HPI and TwinSpires, horse racing lacks public accessibility. The industry greatly needs a medium outside of racing’s inner circles where the average Joe can plunk down $2-$20 and walk away; all while paying for his gas and grabbing a quick snack.

Attempts over the years to put horse racing into convenience stores have failed. Most floundered because we wanted to put the racetrack into the corner store, instead of putting the corner store experience into horse racing. We shouldn't put a betting and live stream terminal into a convenience store and expect people to play. For one, their stop is quick and targeted—good luck getting them to read over a program and select a horse. The average person, however, will place a ‘bet’ on the Super 7 or Lotto Max; either through randomly generated "quick-picks", or by using their own numbers which they regularly play.

Racing, in its current form, is too complex for those looking to get in and out of stores as quickly as possible. Our new motto for successfully getting into convenience stores should be “If we can’t beat them, join them” and we should gear ourselves towards matching our competitors simplicity.

One idea to simplify our product offering is an original take on the very popular Pro-Line sports betting service offered by government lottery corporations across Canada. Other jurisdictions have similar products. Pro-Line allows people to bet on the outcomes of their favourite sports teams and users must select at least two combinations (single sports betting is illegal in Canada, but may become legalized soon). All odds are predetermined by the corresponding lottery corporations and are presented when purchasing your Pro-Line ticket. As with horse racing, betting more (up to $25 per Pro-Line transaction) will help increase your payout if your ticket is a winner.

Pro-Line also offers another type of bet where you can wager on which athlete will receive the most points. In the photo above, which I took before Game 5 of the most recent Stanley Cup finals, Pro-Line offered a player match-up between centers Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks) and Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins). If Toews received more points at the end of the night, and I had pegged him to do so, I would receive 1.90-times my initial bet. Because both players are almost evenly matched, ALC decided that both players would payout at 1.90-times the initial bet if they were chosen. If both players end the night with identical scores, and I thought ahead of time that they would, 2.70-times my initial wager would be returned.

Horse racing could easily enter a similar scenario. Imagine betting on which horse would beat the other, instead of buying a win ticket on the horse you thought would win. You could head to the corner store and put down $2 on Foiled Again beating Sweet Lou. The "Six Million Dollar Man" could finish ninth, but as long as he was ahead of Lou, you would cash. A move like this would help open a whole new realm of possibilities for horse racing, and expose the sport to gamblers already betting other sports.

Adding horse racing to Pro-Line is a simple task. It’s a few additional lines on a sports sheet and some collaboration between the lottery corporations and racetrack secretaries.

Betting horses from a brick and mortar store isn't a crazy idea. Across the pond, I've seen terminals in Sweden and Norway that do just that. It's a popular option for easily placing bets and it helps drive some of racing's biggest pools in those countries. Horse racing in corner stores is a great idea to broaden our mass appeal. It's a bet we should be roaring to make.