Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Media & Entertainment Law Blogs -> Sports Biz

Media & Entertainment Law

: Sports Biz

Great Recession Hits Horse Sales

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale is the largest and usually most expensive sale of thoroughbred yearlings in the world. It recently concluded its annual 14 day run while posting the largest declines in its history, as the full weight of the global economic crisis and the difficulties faced by horse racing in states that have not adopted some form of casino gambling or video poker, primarily Kentucky and Maryland.

The sale?s $191.9 million gross was down 41.5 percent from last year, with only 3,159 yearlings sold, compared to 3,605 last year, a 12.4 percent decline.This year?s average sale price of $60,734 was down 33.2 percent, while the median of $22,000 was down 40.5 percent.

It hadn't dropped near this bad since 1947. The largest buyer was once again the representative of Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, who bought the sale topper at $2.05 million, the cheapest topper since 1997. There were only four yearlings sold for over $1 million compared to 18 last year and more than 30 in each year from 2005-2007.

To sum it up , the thoroughbred industry is in free fall and it won't likely get better anytime soon. The only bright spot on the horizon is still several years out and that is rationalizing production as a result of these sales results. Stallion fees will go down again this winter and fewer mares will be bred. Next year's crop will be smaller and in time, supply and demand will begin to equalize but until the global economy turns and the industry does some serious work to heal itself, with significant help from a few state legislatures, Kentucky included, there will be several very lean years ahead.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on September 30, 2009 (boomark / email).