How Casinos Are Impacting Horse Racing
Purses Blossom as Attendance Dwindles
Racetracks Bank on Casinos for Future Success
There is an intriguing situation going on in Florida and it involves Gulfstream Park racetrack’s future, wagering, and gaming. In casino news, it means there could be pari-mutuel betting at tracks without any racing at the venues.
This stems from HB 105 in Florida, which “authorizes thoroughbred permit holders to elect not to conduct live racing or games; specifies that such permit holders retain certain permits, eligibility, exemptions, & licenses; provides that certain permit holders are eligible to be guest track, revising specified requirements for thoroughbred permit holders who have certain licenses.”
How does this play into the big picture when it comes to Gulfstream Park, casino games, and horse racing?
Ocala.com spoke to an attorney and David Romanik explained why it impeached harness racing after such an act was passed in 2021.
In 2021, the legislature amended the pari-mutuel code to allow all of the other pari-mutuel sports — including jai alai, harness racing, and quarter horse racing — to decouple their live racing from their other gambling activities, which inside of Miami-Dade and Broward includes both poker and slot machines, and outside of those counties includes poker.
The result of the passage of that law was that not one of the permit holders granted the right not to conduct live racing or games EVER conducted another live race or game.
The Stronach Group, which owns Gulfstream, obviously sees decoupling as a window to extract itself from Thoroughbred racing, which is a financial drain in favor of gaming, which is making the rich in the industry richer.
How Casinos Factor Into Horse Racing
In many venues that conduct any form of horse racing, you will see the track apron is vacant, and not a person in sight. Yet, there are bulging purses for these races. Why would that be?
Because people play for real money at casinos that are attached to the racetracks. A portion of the money won by the shops through casino gaming goes toward purses for horse racing.
So, between simulcasting, and gaming, you have a horse racing industry that is failing at attendance but conducts races with a richer purse structure than before.
That’s where Gulfstream Park comes into play. The ownership group no doubt is greedy and wants to make hay by feasting on having a venue that can handle simulcasting and certain gaming platforms. Simulcasting is like the online casino: You can bet anything, anywhere from your device.
However, a racino is necessary in many jurisdictions for casino games to be played. It’s a sticky situation and one in Florida that merits close watching given the dire situation horse racing is in at Gulfstream Park, per its ownership group.
You can bet there will be a lot of infighting and political dueling between management and the people who represent the best interests of horse racing in Florida.
Comments (0)