Maryland Jockey Club officials hope a post-Derby bump after a stunning upset Saturday in Kentucky by Mine That Bird will boost sluggish Preakness Stakes ticket sales, but they are bracing for a more subdued scene at Baltimore's famously raucous horse race.
The recession has dampened spending habits of ordinary spectators and corporate party hosts at the middle leg of racing's Triple Crown, with advance infield ticket sales down about 17 percent compared with this time last year.
Mobile device BlackBerry is the race's first "title sponsor" in recent memory, but corporate underwriting revenue overall is down about 10 percent, or $75,000, because of the loss of such sponsors as UPS, Heineken and the Maryland State Lottery, jockey club officials said.
"Some companies are no longer entertaining, and I think from the general public's perspective, they're also downsizing," said Jockey Club President Tom Chuckas, who nonetheless predicted that the May 16 event at Pimlico Race Course would attract more than 100,000 revelers. "Sales have a tendency to pick up momentum once we get past the Kentucky Derby. ... I'm cautiously optimistic."
The state Department of Business and Economic Development, which spent about $200,000 last year to host hundreds at Pimlico's trackside "Corporate Village" tent area, can afford this year to entertain only 20 or 30 guests in the grandstand, said David Tillman, a spokesman.
"This is a year about doing more with less," Tillman said. "Given what we have to deal with, [with] budget cuts, the economy ... it's going to be a much smaller party."
Pre-race festivities also are being curtailed. The Preakness Celebration Balloon Festival, which has for 20 years showcased hot-air balloons from around the region, was canceled this year because of economic woes afflicting the Jockey Club's bankrupt parent, Magna Entertainment Corp., said Ronald Broderick, the event's organizer.
"It's very disappointing," said Broderick, a hot-air balloon pilot from Howard County.
The 36th annual twilight Preakness Parade is still scheduled for downtown May 15.
In addition to general economic woes, slow ticket sales may be related to a new rule banning outside alcoholic beverages from the general-attendance infield, which had become a booze-fueled bacchanal reminiscent of New Orleans' Mardi Gras.
