As soon as it was announced that single-game sports wagering (SGSW) would become legal in Canada, most people in the horse racing industry got scared - and rightly so. We were the only game in town for years, but over the past three or four decades, other options have continued to eat away at our customer-base. Could this be the final straw? Well it shouldn’t be. Look at the glass as being half-full and maybe you’ll see that SGSW has, in a way, made gambling more socially acceptable. Millions of people - many of them young - are now gamblers. What racing needs to do is get in on this ‘new’ fad. It might be tougher than it sounds, but we’ve sure got to try. By Matthew Lomon.
