OTL on ESPN this morning sparked several thoughts I wanted to post about.
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1. Why didn\'t horse racing do everything possible to let ESPN embrace it and let it increase popularity? ESPN may not have brought our sport into the realm of NFL, MLB, NHL, etc. but it certainly wasn\'t hurting. Some questioned their coverage but it was better than no exposure on ESPN.
2. Why hasn\'t horse racing embraced high definition television? TVG has teamed with Del Mar and Keeneland in some way. And Woodbine kicked off high def production. But shouldn\'t we be watching all races in HD on TVG and HRTV? Is there a TVG HD Channel? Or is just available online? Is HD at Living Rooms Down on my television ever going to actually happen?
3. Why aren\'t contests exploding the way fantasy sports in baseball and football have? Thanks to \"Horseplayers\" they are taking off more than ever. Thanks mbeychock. If television can make a contest \"take off\" why can\'t coverage of contest races help their popularity? DRF, NHCQualify, and BCQualify should have a show/feed of the 12 races that are their contest shouldn\'t they? Or shouldn\'t TVG or HRTV on certain days have a Contest Show for everyone at home to sign up and participate in, follow the coverage, and play along? I bet there would be more than 219 entries like there were yesterday on NHCQualify.
4. Why can\'t horse racing create \"fantasy leagues\" like football and baseball that are worth large sums of money? Watch OTL and let me know why horse racing can\'t accomplish similar?
Here is the link to the video although it doesn\'t look as if it is up and running just yet. Check it out when it is:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/index
