Tracks are always looking for ideas to bring back players. There is no one size fits all, but here are a few ideas that may keep ’em coming.

Friday Night Parties – I have seen a few tracks do this well…. Have a band, $1 beers, $1 dogs, and $1 wagers… Get in for free, and keep them there to feel the energy. I know, your core demo will hate the music, and won’t care for hullabaloo. But, this is how you bring out new crowds. They will remember the big night they all came out and had a blast. If I could get three trips a year from these folks, the handle would grow, and we would have new fans.

Everyone wins – For your core audience, have drawings after each race, and you must be present to win.  The winners get: free program vouchers, free lunch or dinner coupons, and can deposit their losing tickets in a hopper for a drawing for two tickets for a premier race day. This should be done on Saturdays to reward everyday players.

Fly away –  You can probably trade this one out with another track, or build it into your marketing/promotional budget. Every slow night of the week, have your players who purchase a program fill-in their free coupon and place it in the hopper. You will draw out twenty names, and those names go into the big hopper. Have a drawing for a getaway to Vegas, The Derby, The Travers, or anywhere the action will be. Have two names drawn, and make them come out on your slow night. It serves many masters…. They still talk about the Vegas trips I used to put together. The best part was that your most valuable asset was rewarded.

So, as the holidays approach, talk to your local tracks. If they can’t do it now, they will plan for the future. The place I got my best ideas and feedback was from the players. Who better to have a say-so? Who better to hear what they have to say? It is their home, and make them feel like it.