Never a truer statement, Mad Max!
Both racing management and many 'purists' just don't get it when they whine on about declining ( actually non existent ) racecourse attendance.
Taking the emotion out of it for a moment let's try and assess what the problem might be :
1.) When I first went to a racecourse in the 1970's it was an absolutely prime example of the 'apartheid state' - there was an enclosure for 'Bantu' ( I kid you not ), 'Other colours', Whites ( non-members ) and Members. Even members were partly divided into club members and owners/trainers. Each enclosure was jealously guarded and you risked unceremonious removal if you crossed those borders. During the course of the afternoon you eyed the besuited 'racing royalty' and wondered if you would ever make it to that level........
Facilities mirrored the standards available at most other sporting events : A lot of cold concrete, very basic food and a enormous amount of spare time. You also required a piece of equipment in the form of binoculars if you wanted to actually see what was going on.
As a result of the above you followed a fairly standard procedure during the course of the afternoon : Parade ring - canter down - tote windows ( long queues ) or bookmakers ( standing around waiting for prices to change ), grandstand ( to see the race ) - parade ring ( unsaddling ). This process was repeated by the number of races.
At the end of the afternoon you went home ( usually broke and remorseful ), a bit sunburned, very sore, stiff neck ( from the binoculars ) and spent the evening going through the racecard to try and determine why you had missed the now obvious winners.
On the odd occasion where you took a newcomer to the course they often asked what you found entertaining about spending an entire afternoon in that fashion. Looking back I realise it was two things :
a.) The picture I had formed in my head as to how the race had been run. This was highly subjective as there was no Tellytrack.
b.) The characters that I had rubbed shoulders with during the course of the afternoon.
2.) Technology changed all of that : IGN (as Tellytrack was first called) introduced us to the racing from other centres. Prior to that we had no interest in racing from other provinces except for the big races.
The first 'victim' of simulcast was the faithful old set of binoculars. ( Strangely binocular manufacturers have not felt the need to rush off to the government wailing about how unfair it was, how useful binoculars are and how much employment their manufacture provides ).
Then came computers, cellphones, internet - you know the rest. All the technology did was give us all access to racing from all over the country and/or world. If managed responsibly by punters you can now pick and choose your bets and resist getting involved in events which only satify your urge to bet rather than having a genuine opinion on the relevant outcome. That's your choice and your challenge.
And best of all - you can switch to another sport if it becomes boring; which it inevitably does.
2.) You sometimes have to wonder why the authorities ramble on about race course attendance. It was they who fostered the establishment of dozens of off course outlets. Take the total number of people in those outlets countrywide on any day and you would probably have pretty decent racecourse attendance.
3.) The rest of us would probably rather be at home with our TV, PC et al. We can even do or watch other things ( Kardashians anyone? Vomit. ) before and after selected races.
4.) In the meantime - back at the course it is probably becoming increasingly unattractive to attend. Certainly nobody needing to travel long distance necessarily wants to incur the cost. Even owners with no hopers in a race would probably prefer to switch 'on' and then 'off' once their terminally slow charges have run. And save themselves the tedium of listening to their trainers quote from 'Excuses Volumes 1 - 10' again. To say nothing about the loneliness of being the only person at the course.
And you think it's only local racing with problems? Check out a Vodacom Cup rugby match, some PSL matches and our non-international cricket crowds. Same story. The sports fan will only turn out for 'sport' contested at the pinnacle of the relevant discipline. And SA racing is mostly a l-o-n-g way off the pinnacle of thoroughbred performance.
5.) At the end of the day the industry wants to sell tote tickets. That's it. And you don't need to be at the course to buy them.
So stop wasting money trying to lure them back.
It would be better spent securing a second TV channel and broadcasts in HD.
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