This is a very interesting article about horseracing in Turkey. There is a 50% take out, and yet the sport thrives! A great quote from Atatürk: “Horse racing is a social need for modern societies
ISTANBUL — During a period when the world’s thoroughbred business has suffered, and betting totals in the United States have dropped year by year, there is at least one nation where racing has prospered: Turkey.
Its success may be unrecognized even by industry insiders; despite the globalization of the sport, horse racing in Turkey is little known. Its horses rarely venture outside their own borders, and outsiders seldom come in. But last year Turks wagered the U. S. dollar equivalent of $1.49 billion on their races — a 21 percent jump from 2010.
The statistics in Turkey contradict many people’s notions about the right way to make horse racing grow. Most fans believe that a low takeout rate — the percentage of a wager that is kept by the track and the state — will give players a fair chance to win and thus will stimulate betting. Yet Turkey’s takeout rate of 50 percent is among the most oppressive in the world. And while many people in the industry believe that too much government meddling is the bane of the sport, the central government controls almost every aspect of Turkish racing.
Posted via email from Michael Pizzolla On ValueCapping™, Horse Racing, And Technology
