Long in decline, NY’s harness-racing industry is currently kept afloat by state subsidies. In fact, if not for this welfare, all seven harness tracks would have closed years ago. (The seven harness tracks and Finger Lakes receive roughly $100 million…
“In Nebraska, to get gaming options they want, people are being given something they don’t want – more racing – at a cost of untold millions.” – Associated Press, 6/17/22 Nebraska currently has just two regularly-running commercial tracks – Columbus…
Last fall, we helped beat back an attempt to bring Thoroughbred racing to Sturbridge, Mass. It was the fifth such try by the racing people since Suffolk Downs shuttered in 2019. As we said at the time, though, this will…
The New York Racing Association’s (NYRA) effort to get a half-billion dollars in state-backed bonds to rebuild Belmont Park has failed, the bill dying yesterday, the final day of the session. To my knowledge, this is the first time NYRA…
The “National Council of Legislators From Gaming States” is an umbrella organization of the state legislators responsible for the regulation of gaming across the country. The Council is holding its summer meeting in July. A primary area of focus will…
As the legalization of sports-betting – that is, wagering on real sports played by autonomous homo sapiens – sweeps across the country (30+ states and counting), the racing people have their greedy, grubby hands outstretched, especially in the states in…
A small minority of tracks in this country (Saratoga, Keeneland, Santa Anita, et al.) are profitable – profitable meaning they survive on their product alone. The rest are being wholly propped up by corporate welfare. If there was any doubt…
Monday, the Coalition to End Horseracing Subsidies in New York (of which we are a part) held a virtual rally, with Edie Falco of Sopranos fame kicking it off: Representing HW, I gave the following statement: State Senator Robert Jackson,…
As previously relayed, a bicameral bill has been introduced in New York that would strip that state’s racing industry of most of its quarter-billion-dollar annual subsidy. And now the war (of words) is on. Because the racing people can’t rationally…
The battle lines have been drawn in Oregon, where Grants Pass owner (and billionaire coffee mogul) Travis Boersma seeks to install 225 “Historical Racing Machines” (HRMs) at the “Flying Lark,” a resort that’s to be attached to the racetrack. The…
Last month, I posted about our victory in stopping a proposed track in Sturbridge, Mass. But with millions in state gifts still available, the racing people are sure to keep trying. Hence the need for continued vigilance. This is why…
The “racino” – combination racetrack/casino – is a win-win for the racing people: Not only are purses jacked up by slots revenue, but the tracks – flush with that unearned income – are able to pay first through last. So,…
