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REEDS NASRC ADDRESS Don Reed president of the Turf PubZz cists of America gave tlie following address at yesterdays session of the National Asso ¬ ciation of State Racing Commissioners CommissionersSince Since the Turf Publicists of America is a rather new organization in racing this be ¬ ing only the fourth year of its existence Id like to take just a moment to tell you that its membership includes approximately 50 men who hold down publicity and public relations post with race tracks from New York to Los Angeles and New Orleans to Chicago We are banded together with the idea of exchanging views on how best to present racing to an ever increasing public to gain new friends for the sport through the printed word and by the air waves either radio or television televisionLike Like racing commissions each of us in his own particular area has problems which are strictly local At the same time our general method of operation is pretty much the same To try to list all of the things which were done to promote any given race or race meeting would take up considerable more time than has been al ¬ lotted any speaker here today It is suf ¬ ficient to say that we publicity men do our best to convince newspapers and magazines that our material is worthy of publication to furnish ideas and material for columnists and to provide similar material plus pic ¬ tures for radio television and any other sources which will use them themTrick Trick Gadgets GadgetsNaturally Naturally there are many trick gadgets used to advertise races and race meetings but most of these are local in character and have no bearing on the thought which I wish to bring before you youTo To get at this thought quickly let me ask a few questions questionsHow How would you feel if you were watch ¬ ing a game during the world series and your television announcer suddenly came on in the seventh inning and advised you that the remainder of the game would not be telecast until 30 minutes after it had been completed completedOr Or how would you feel if you were listening to a Notre DameArmy football game on the radio and the final quarter was withheld for half an hour hourAnd And finally would you be satisfied after seeing or hearing a good fight if you couldnt get the decision decisionIll Ill take the liberty of answering these questions for you Im pretty sure none of you would be very happy about the whole thing and youd probably make a mental reservation that whoever passed regulations which so interfered with your enjoyment must be either crazy or a tyrant Some rabid sports followers probably would im ¬ mediately play a boycott of the sponsors product productRules Rules and Regulations RegulationsYet Yet in racing we are faced with the fact that in some states there are rules and regulations which do our sport exactly the things which we would think unbearable for other sports Why Is racing so much below baseball football and boxing in pub ¬ lic opinion that it is not entitled to the same fair treatment given these sports sportsThe The attendance figures deny this em ¬ phatically Racing is the No 1 spectator sport in America today Which means that in addition to the thousands in attendance each afternoon at our tracks there are millions more at home at work at play who want to know what is going on in rac ¬ ing Baseball has often been called the na ¬ tional pastime Whether we agree that this is an accurate estimate of that sports ap ¬ peal the fact remains that baseball has prospered because in every nook and cor ¬ ner of the land the scores of the games are available inning by inning Each home run is recorded The team and individual averages are avilable to all who may want to scan them The same is true of the team standings the probable pitchers for the next day dayFootball Football and boxing follow suit The yards gained the first downs the punting averages and the percentage of successful passes are there for the gridiron patron to use just as in boxing the records and work ¬ outs of the fighters are important items in each days news newsDeep Deep Dark Secret But in racing there are places where when a race is run it is kept a deep dark secret for 30 minutes And in other places the broadcasting of races is permitted but after a horse has won the price he paid must not be mentioned over the air airAgain Again I ask why Having asked that why to a number of the turfs leaders I have been informed that most such regula ¬ tions were adopted with a view to assisting law enforcement authorities in preventing the operation of handbooks handbooksWe We in the Turf Publicists of America ap ¬ plaud the spirit in which such regulations were adopted We have no more use for illegal betting operations than you do But we feel that the rules have not accomp ¬ lished what they were set up to accomplish and instead have hampered racing not only with the public but with the media most used to spread the appeal of racing Our jobs with the various tracks is to obtain as much space and time devoted to racing as possible That can be done only by offering racings complete cooperation to the papers radio and television stations stationsNewspaper Newspaper Space SpaceWhen When we hold but any single item of rac ¬ ing news we are not playing fair with those who give us our greatest support My home is in Baltimore and since I am director of publicity at Pimlico I am familiar with the operation of the three newspapers in Baltimore Every day of the year these papers devote anywhere from one to two a half pages of their space to racing No other sport can remotely approach such a record recordSuch Such coverage for racing it seems to me is a treasure to be cherished Never should racing itself do anything which cause a newspaper or a radio station or a television organization to feel that it was being de ¬ nied anything to which it was entitled entitledHaving Having worked on newspapers for many years before going into publicity work I know the pride taken in presenting as much of the very latest news as possible in every edition The thought of going to press with a 500 oclock paper without having a 445 race result in type is un ¬ thinkable Yet there are places where that condition must exist under present regu ¬ lations The same is true of radio and tele ¬ vision which are anxious to use our features on the air But without the com ¬ plete story these stations are losing interest interestHalted Halted by Inferred Threat ThreatWe We have already been confronted by a situation in which some radio stations have dropped all racing results because of an inferred threat by a Federal Commission jhat the stations could lose their licenses if they broadcast such results Yet no sta ¬ tion ever has given up baseball football boxing or basketball for such a reason reasonMany Many of you commissioners are close enough to the political leaders in your area to drop a word to them whenever you see something harmful to the sport de ¬ veloping It is hoped that you will do just that thatBut But just now we are concerned only with regulation of racing from within Granted that censorship of racing news which is exactly what has been set up in some states was done with the loftiest of mo ¬ tives it is our opinion that we have hurt our friends more than we have our enemies enemiesTremendous Tremendous Gains GainsMay May I therefore urge that each of you consider carefully this problem Do we want rules and regulations which might alienate the friends we have made To us it would seem much better to remove all such regulations and restrictions to legiti ¬ mate papers wire services radio and tele ¬ vision stations If there are those within this group who choose to deal with illegal operators then let the law enforcement agents point them out and punish They wilLJind no sympathy from those who ad ¬ here to the purposes of their organizations organizationsThe The Turf Publicists of America are proud of the tremendous gains in popularity made by racing in recent years They are proud to have had a small part in the rise of thoroughbred competition as a major at ¬ traction to the sports loving fans of the nation The publicists believe that in large measure racings success has been due to the support given it by newspapers magazines and over radio and television Without such support we doubt that rac ¬ ing can maintain its present place or extend its hold on the public Yet regulations from within racing affect these media most mostLets Lets not bite the hand that feeds us
