Horse Racing & Boxing...dead sports?

Yesterday the Breeder's Cup decided to send the 2009 event to Santa Anita in CA. Churchill Downs, along with the KY state legislature had put in a tremendous amount of effort and incentive to attract the event back to Louisville and to Churchill Downs, with obviously no success. And in my opinion, through no fault of their own.

But this brings into view a growing problem in the sports world around both the horse racing industry and the professional boxing industry. That problem is, that I believe that both of these sports are literally dead sports to the vast majority of the American sports public.

Now, before you start quoting how Louisville and Churchill Downs owns the 5 of the top 6 Breeder's Cup attendance records, or how the Derby every year pulls in millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of people, or how Louisville hosted a professional boxing event, and how Louisville is home to the greatest heavy weight boxing champion in the world, let me defend my point. Because Louisville and the state of KY still value these sports, especially the horse industry. And the horse industry in KY is a HUGE part of the economic engine in this state. I get that.

But the truth is that nationwide, horse racing is losing fan interest. Especially among the sports media. Even during last year's Derby event, the friday immediately before Derby, (known here as Oaks Day), not only went completely unnoticed by ESPN's SportsCenter, but also, on ESPN's "Around the Horn" show, Kevin Blackistone and Bill Plaske said that they would NOT be watching the Derby at all. Blackistone because there was a boxing match, (which I will get into in a moment), and Plaske because of some other golf event. Even Jay Mariotti on the show that day said that while he would watch the race itself, it only had a passing interest for him and his readers in the Chicago area.

You can gnash you teeth and come up with all sorts of reasons as to why these guys do not matter, but the evidence of fan attendance at race tracks bears out that horse racing has become such the purview of the most wealthy and famous that unless you are part of the industry, (or live in KY, or certain parts of FL, VA or CA), it no longer holds any interest for the national fan base. (And do not use the argument of, "But the Queen of England came to the Derby!"....because I can counter with how much interest do you have in THEIR national sport, soccer.)

Boxing is another sport that no matter how hard the cable companies try they just are NOT going to revive from the dead. Sorry, but this sport is dead, buried and needs a eulogy for it. This sport has been declining in significance since the incarceration of Tyson. The truth is, with anyone under the age of 35 this sport is being fastly replaced as a spectator sport with more violent and agressive Ultimate Fighting Championships. UFC is growing fan ranks at a very quick pace, and will soon equal, and I believe overtake, boxing with regard to fan interest. Again, you can deny that, but numbers do not lie, (although they can be 'fudged'), but the truth is, that boxing has become completely insignificant in the world of sports. And in many ways they only have themselves to blame for the greed that overtook them by moving all big title bouts to 'pay per view' events that had very little excitement and interest.

Even in the state of KY and surrounding areas, UFC is gaining in popularity and interest, where boxing, even with Louisville's rich history of boxing, is losing ground. And again, to that same demographic. And the truth here is that boxing is all but dead even in KY.

The point is that soon while in KY these sports will continue to have relevance and interest, and in the case of horse racing, a continued huge roll in the overall economy and interest of the people of this state, in the coming years these sports will be of so little significance that even getting the Breeder's Cup to Churchill Downs will not capture much attention of the national sporting world.

What is the answer? I think doing what Louisville is doing. Looking to pull other events into the mix. Events like the Ryder Cup, the Senior Olympic Games, (and as much as I personally HATE it), even the Ironman Competition. Louisville should also continue to court other X sports, and try to get more of those championships to come to the area. Those sports are growing in fan interest, and are far and away a better investment of time, resources, and money than continuing to go after boxing and other horse racing events that will have continued diminishing economic and fan interest returns.