Slots At Horse And Dog Tracks May Be Essential

23.09.2003, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «Slots At Horse And Dog Tracks May Be Essential».

Long-term prospects for Arizona horse and dog tracks are not good without slot machines added to them, an industry researcher said Wednesday. "You have to have slots at your tracks or they're going to be gone," Richard Thalheimer, professor at the University of Louisville School of Equine Studies and president of Thalheimer Research Associates, said in a private interview after his presentation at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. He was one of three presenters at a seminar called "Saving the Tracks: Is Gaming the Answer?" His answer: an unequivocal "yes." Long term, though, tracks still need to figure out how to convert slot players to racing bettors, he said.

Arizona tracks failed to persuade voters last fall to allow slots at tracks. Proposition 201 lost handily, while Proposition 202 allowing expanded Indian gambling passed by a nose. Nevada-style blackjack and additional slot machines began appearing in the state in February.

Casinos and lotteries have bitten heavily into wagering at tracks, Thalheimer said. Tracks in six states, including neighboring New Mexico, have created "racinos" by adding slots to tracks, with a portion of slot revenues used to boost racing purses, increase wagering interest and maintain the horse-racing and breeding industries. New Mexico sends 20 percent of its racino revenue to horsemen and purse funds. "Trainers and owners are lured there all the time," Randy Fozzard, general manager of Turf Paradise racetrack in north Phoenix, said of New Mexico's higher slot-fed purses. Fozzard acknowledges the difficulty Arizona tracks face, but he remains optimistic. "I can't disagree with (Thalheimer) totally," Fozzard said by phone from Phoenix. But racing is "too important to too many people to just roll over and die," Fozzard said.

Arizona's commercial racing had a direct and indirect economic impact of $241.8 million, supported 5,900 jobs and produced $18.6 million in state and local taxes in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2002, according to an Arizona State University study that Turf Paradise helped commission. Additionally, county fair racing produced total impact of $22.7 million, according to updates of a separate study by University of Arizona.

Turf Paradise continues to seek new promotions and off-track betting facilities to send its television signals of its races in efforts to bolster its business. Arizona Racing Commission Chairman Burton Kruglick recently has suggested that the industry's plight could necessitate approaching the Legislature for some form of help. Even the famed Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky., home of the Kentucky Derby, hopes to win approval for slots at its track and four others it owns and two others it co-owns. Churchill Downs' wagers are off about 20 percent, said Alex Waldrop, senior vice president of public affairs for Churchill Downs Inc. He cited an Indiana riverboat casino about 15 miles away as contributing.

While events like the Derby remain hugely popular, "Churchill Downs cannot survive on those events," Waldrop said after the presentation. Tracks' ability to their signals is important to their bottom lines, amounting to 83 percent of total wagers, Thalheimer said. Live racing wagers account for 17 percent. Turf Paradise owner Jerry Simms said it's too early to determine what the full effect of expanded Indian gambling will be in Arizona. "I would hate for anything to happen on my tenure," Simms said, adding that he feels like a "steward" for the track, its long tradition and the families it supports. "There still is a demand; we have a product that the people want," he said by phone.

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