The experiences of this year’s Irish Derby (G1) on June 30 at the Curragh and the continued flat performance of horse racing betting in North America have only strengthened my belief that horse racing is missing its best opportunity in years to attract new people to the sport by not fully embracing fixed odds.

Let me explain.

I was fortunate enough to spend a holiday as a fan on Ireland’s big race day, and as I entered the area next to the parade ring where the bookmakers are located, it was a thrill to shop around for the best price on the horses I liked. And the bookmakers’ representatives did their best to inform fans of those prices, and quickly realized that if they were offering the best price on one of the favorites, they were shouting that information to the masses.

An odds point here or a half point there just adds a little bit of satisfaction to the handicapping process. If you’re not a gambler, it’s similar to the feeling of finding a better price on a sale item that you’ve been wanting. In fixed-odds betting, the odds are set at the time a ticket is purchased. In pari-mutuel betting, the odds fluctuate until a pool is fully settled, usually when the gates open, meaning that the final tabulation of that pool isn’t available until after the race has started.

I should mention that the pari-mutuel betting on offer at the Curragh on 30th June, in the World Pool, also offered some exciting odds. The point is, it was nice to have a choice.

I couldn’t help but imagine how fixed-odds betting in North America might play out on mobile, web, and social media platforms, as gamblers not only talk about horses, but also discuss where to find the best odds to bet on. Like those bookmaker reps who shout out prices on the track, these platforms would also spread the word, promoting the sport to the many new legal sportsbooks in the United States.

Fixed-odds betting, which would operate under an agreement that would send money to exchanges and racecourses, would revitalize betting on horses to win and would not have a negative impact on pari-mutuel betting such as Pick 4, Pick 5 and Pick 6, which racing has had some success with marketing. If anything, it would give new players to the sport brought to it by fixed-odds betting confidence and give more complicated bets a try.

Only a few states have joined the fixed-odds party so far. Pari-mutuel betting remains flat or down. Despite record bets on Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes days (for a year without a Triple Crown on the line), wagers on U.S. races fell 0.45% in the second quarter. And that’s in a quarter where the race dates were nearly identical, 1,036 this year compared to 1,039 last year.

For the year, revenue is down 2.05% compared with the first six months of 2023. Without a turnaround, this will be the third straight year of revenue declines since 2021, when racing enjoyed a COVID-fueled revival. While revenue is an imperfect economic indicator, that decline suggests at some level that new players who gave the sport a chance in the COVID years have left.

Racing needs to consider that one of the reasons those players weren’t retained is the betting experience. Think about any experience that’s offered. Sports bettors who place a significant bet already know that they have to scour the various sites and find the best odds. They lock in a price that they’re happy with and then watch the outcome. Those players came into a pari-mutuel game where they might bet on a horse at 3-1 to win, but it actually only comes out to a price of 2-1. In these examples, the pari-mutuel experience almost feels like a losing proposition, even if the player wins, compared to the fixed-odds model.

That 2021 handle bump was delivered by sports fans/bettors looking for an outlet. Why not go back to that group with a betting slip – fixed odds betting – that they can easily understand?