Yet again track and club rationalisation is on the agenda. It has always been so. Nothing new here, although there may be more after the March election, so the story goes.For some two decades, sorting out goodies and baddies has been the flavour of the month, starting about the time that the respective values of Maitland and Cessnock were being debated and Newcastles Beaumont Park was in its death throes. They got that wrong, then right, then wrong again, or something like that. Either way, Centres of Excellence were a popular centrepiece, even though they really never happened. NSW now has 16 TAB tracks and 17 non-TAB tracks while spots like Tweed Heads, Orange, Penrith, Griffith, Albury, Singleton, Queanbeyan (yes, Queanbeyan), Wentworth and Wyong were wiped off the map for one reason or another. Canberra, too. In two cases (Tweed Heads and Albury), the losses were harder to sustain due to the closure of nearby interstate tracks (Gold Coast and Wangaratta, resp). More radical surgery is now on the table but the reasons for that are not clear. The current, chronic shortage of dogs is a factor but no-one has yet concluded the reductions will be permanent. Money will be an even greater problem as expenses (wages and overheads) are out-running income. So, what will happen if both TAB and non-TAB numbers are cut back? Or even just one or the other? First, the greyhound breed and greyhound racing will be less exposed to the NSW population. Second, there will be less investment into racing and related services. Third, betting will ease back in line with the loss of familiarity with the sport. Fourth, breeding will drop off as opportunities diminish. Fifth, overhead costs will drop a little the amount dependent on the nature of the track eliminated and its relative position in the local region. The conclusion has to be that there are more negatives than positives in that list. Sure, an odd or occasional rationalisation may be manageable. But, over a period, any substantial change is likely to be very costly. Whichever way you look at it, the industry is dependent on broad-based support from both participants and the public, including the betting public. It is already on weak ground so it cannot readily sustain further falls. By far the biggest worry would be further deterioration in breeding. Fewer dogs will ensure fewer races. The solution demands two changes: tighter cost control and better promotion to ensure betting growth. Both will be necessary, regardless of the number of tracks. In that context, spending money to see if Queanbeyan can support a brand new track is whistling in the dark, or lunacy, even if it is in the Deputy Premiers electorate.
|