Both Hawthorne Race Course and Meadowlands Racetrack have announced partnerships with DerbyWars that include revenue-sharing with the tracks and horsepeople for use of their races in contests on derbywars.com, as well as video and data sharing opportunities to enhance the customer experience.
DerbyWars offers dozens of different harness contests each night featuring Hawthorne Thursday through Sunday and Meadowlands on Friday and Saturday. Games include survivor contests, head-to-head contests and both free games and cash games. On Friday and Saturday nights, there is a $1,500 harness game with a $750 first-place prize.
On Friday (July 14), DerbyWars will offer a free $500 contest featuring Meadowlands and Hawthorne races, which are also part of the USTA’s Strategic Wagering Program, starting at 9:30 p.m. (EDT) featuring Meadowlands Races 7-10 and Hawthorne Races 8-11. Fans can register for free at derbywars.com. To enter the contest, visit derbywars.com/tournaments/386380.
Since those races comprise Pick-4 USTA Strategic Wagers at those two tracks, fans can get free past performances at handicapping.ustrotting.com.
"Our mission is to be an innovator in horse racing and establishing partnerships with harness tracks will help us continue to introduce new players to racing, re-engage others, and ultimately grow the sport," said DerbyWars CEO/Founder Mark Midland.
“We were the first contest site to establish track and horsemen revenue-sharing agreements and now we're expanding that model greatly," added Midland. "We continue to see tremendous growth opportunities for the sport through contests and look forward to working with more harness tracks going forward."
DerbyWars, which has conducted contests on Cal Expo races since 2016, added Hawthorne harness races in mid-June.
"We were excited to be able to expand our partnership with DerbyWars from our Thoroughbred meets to our Standardbred schedule as well,” said Hawthorne Race Course Director of Publicity and Racing Analyst Jim Miller. “DerbyWars provides fans more opportunities to focus on our wagering product and gives our racing at Hawthorne increased exposure. We look forward to being able to grow our product with the assistance of the DerbyWars platform."
The new partnership between the Meadowlands and DerbyWars will also allow for the growth of the annual World Harness Handicapping Championship.
“We are excited to join DerbyWars and think it is a great opportunity to get our world-class harness racing product in front of our core customers on the site as well as, hopefully, new horseplayers and potentially crossover players from the Thoroughbred world,” said Meadowlands GM/COO Jason M. Settlemoir.
“As the proud hosts of the World Harness Handicapping Championship every spring, we see this partnership as a way to grow the number of contest players in the harness game and ultimately grow the prize pool and profile of the WHHC,” added Settlemoir. “We are also delighted to share the revenue generated from the DerbyWars contests with our horsemen and we thank SBOANJ President Mark Ford for his support.”
Contests serve to grow racing in several ways:
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Easy-to-play contests and free games create a low barrier for new fans.
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Contests increase interest in day-to-day racing, not just big events.
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Social nature of contests leverages existing players to involve friends, re-engage dormant players, and congratulate winners.
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Technological advances such as real time picks, real time chat and social interaction create an educational environment where players can learn from others.
DerbyWars also announced new partnership agreements with several Thoroughbred tracks – NYRA (Aqueduct, Belmont, Saratoga), Monmouth Park, Ellis Park, Louisiana Downs and Fairmont Park. They have had previous agreements with Cal Expo, Hawthorne (Thoroughbred), Kentucky Downs and Sam Houston.
(USTA)