Ak-Sar-Ben Posts Attendance Drop

OMAHA — Ak-Sar-Ben ended its 85-day meet Sunday with a 27% decline in attendance from the previous year and a 32% drop in mutuel handle.

“We couldn’t take another year like this,” said Executive Director Don Drew said. “If we are down this much next year, it would effectively kill racing in Omaha, Nebraska.”

The overall attendance this season, which includes simulcasting outlets, was 601,517. That was 27.1% lower than the 1989 total of 825,371. On-track attendance of 444,236 was 32.4% lower than last year’s total of 657,167.