COMPUONE CASE STUDY
Entertainment Venue: Del Mar Race Track in San Diego
Delivering tailored IT services in San Diego to streamline operations and enhance the guest experience at one of Southern California’s premier entertainment venues.
660,000+
Annual Attendees
$400M+
Wagered Each Season
37 Days
Racing Season
1937
Established
Profile
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club is a non-profit horse racing track located in Del Mar, California, drawing nearly 660,000 attendees and more than $400 million in pari-mutuel wagers across a 37-day racing season.
Background
Established in 1937 by Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brien, and Jimmy Durante, the club’s races routinely sell out. Del Mar Thoroughbred Club tried adding 13 mobile tellers roaming the crowd to take bets among box seat and grandstand ticket holders, but the mobile tellers quickly became overwhelmed as well. DMTC needed a system that would let patrons place bets without an intermediary.
As we walked through the grounds in 2010 we could see long lines at the betting windows and kiosks. It led to some of our patrons being unable to get their bets down before the race began. That’s not good, either from a revenue or customer experience standpoint.
Situation
An app that let patrons place bets from their own devices over a wireless network looked like the solution — but it had three hard requirements.
High-Speed, Secure Access
Reliable, secure wireless coverage from any public area within the track.
Geofenced to the Fairgrounds
Bets could not be placed by anyone outside the property line.
Dedicated, Bottleneck-Free
A network dedicated to the betting system so it wouldn’t compete with other traffic.
Solution
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club turned to its trusted IT adviser, CompuOne, a partner with deep wireless-network expertise.
- Cisco 5500 series wireless controllers and 3500 series access points, sized to the venue
- 802.11 A/B/N connectivity to support the full range of patron devices
- Restricted, focused access points to control visitor volume and keep coverage on-site
- A pilot rollout across the box seats, restaurant/pub, and paddock area
Results
- Roughly 85,000 patrons used the new wireless betting system in its first year
- More than $500,000 in wagers placed through the app in that first season — with only limited coverage live
- A proven blueprint for expanding coverage venue-wide in future phases
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