When Churchill Downs Inc. pulled the plug on Arlington Park in 2021, it left the whole of Illinois, once a major racing player, with but two tracks (there are three separate operations: Hawthorne hosts both flat and harness). But for…
A week ago, I wrote this about Illinois racing: Illinois is a subsidy state, meaning the three remaining tracks there subsist mostly on corporate welfare. This non-racing-related gaming revenue also allows for first-last payouts. Everybody wins – except, of course,…
Illinois is a subsidy state, meaning the three remaining tracks there subsist mostly on corporate welfare. This non-racing-related gaming revenue also allows for first-last payouts. Everybody wins. Except, of course, the horses. With that in mind, consider the following from…
Tuesday, Prop 26, a sports-betting measure that would have provided a massive subsidy to California horseracing, went down in flames – rejected by some 70% of voters. This was a huge victory, especially with the record-setting amount of money spent…
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,…
