Beulah Park sold to Penn National

[JustRalph]

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2010/03/08/penn-national-buys-beulah-park.html?sid=101

They are also building a Casino on the West Side of Columbus.....right smack dab in the middle of my old Stomping grounds. The State has to approve the sale though.

From the link:

Penn National Gaming Inc. said today it has agreed to buy Beulah Park in Grove City, a long-rumored purchase by the gaming company that is also readying to develop a casino in Columbus.

"We are excited to carry on the rich 86-year racing heritage of Beulah Park and further expand our nationwide portfolio of racing facilities which will now include seven pari-mutuel facilities, the most of any operator in the country," said Peter M. Carlino, CEO of Penn National, in a statement.

[BillW]

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2010/03/08/penn-national-buys-beulah-park.html?sid=101

They are also building a Casino on the West Side of Columbus.....right smack dab in the middle of my old Stomping grounds. The State has to approve the sale though.

From the link:

Penn National Gaming Inc. said today it has agreed to buy Beulah Park in Grove City, a long-rumored purchase by the gaming company that is also readying to develop a casino in Columbus.

"We are excited to carry on the rich 86-year racing heritage of Beulah Park and further expand our nationwide portfolio of racing facilities which will now include seven pari-mutuel facilities, the most of any operator in the country," said Peter M. Carlino, CEO of Penn National, in a statement.

The poor man's CDN :D

[takeout]

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2010/03/08/daily5.html

Now I see how you make a lawsuit go away. Just buy the place. :rolleyes:

[takeout]

[snip]
“We are at our core a racing company,” Schippers said. “(Beulah) is a good structural fit for us.”

But he also said Penn’s “singular” focus in Central Ohio remains on developing its $400 million Columbus casino, one of four approved in a statewide vote last November.
[snip]

[njohnson4015]

As someone who frequents Beulah, what can I expect from this? The place is a dump now, I would assume if they are bringing in these VLTs they would have to make the place look better? Night racing? Bigger purses? What can I expect?

[Robert Goren]

From bad to worse. May to the worst.JMO

[startngate]

As someone who frequents Beulah, what can I expect from this? The place is a dump now, I would assume if they are bringing in these VLTs they would have to make the place look better? Night racing? Bigger purses? What can I expect?Hard to tell, because we don't know what the end game is. The main reason for the purchase was to get the lawsuit to go away, so in the short term I doubt you will see them spend a lot of cash to improve the place.

Assuming the attempt to get slots at the racetracks fails, they should buy Scioto as well, and consolidate all the racing and simulcasting into one facility. The Columbus market can't really support two tracks, which will be an even worse proposition when the casino opens. Better still, build the casino on the Scioto Downs property too, and have one big gambling spot. It's a far better location than the Delphi property they bought, which is in a part of town no one wants to go to anymore. Businesses have been flocking from that area for years due to the crime rate. I can't believe they are even thinking of putting the casino there.

There are a few more twists to the casino/slots situation that have to play themselves out before we will have any idea about what eventually happens to Beulah and Scioto, but it seems that for now this was just a payoff to get the lawsuit to go away as others have said.

[JustRalph]

The Columbus Market has supported two tracks for 40 yrs.

The Scioto Downs location is not a better spot for one reason.

Think route 23 ........versus an almost dedicated freeway ramp from 270 two blocks away ...........at the Location chosen there are other benefits

It's about access from the major freeway system. There is also a bus line running right out front of the W Broad Location. Not to mention the area on W Broad is flush with possible low level employees for the Casino and any Hotels etc that may move in. Six lanes versus two lanes on the route in is a big difference too.

[Tread]

I was at Beulah 2 Fridays ago when I had to make a trip to the southside for business, and granted it was snowing a little that day, if there were more than 100 people in the grandstand and clubhouse combined, it wasnt more than 10 or 20 more than 100.

The entire place needs to be bulldozed. They are still using multil-person urinal troughs in some of the bathrooms for godsake. Scioto Downs has a much more inviting and relaxing feel to it, and if I have to go somewhere live I much prefer there. But no matter where the casino goes, it is probably game over for both of them at that point anyway.

[startngate]

The Columbus Market has supported two tracks for 40 yrs.

The Scioto Downs location is not a better spot for one reason.

Think route 23 ........versus an almost dedicated freeway ramp from 270 two blocks away ...........at the Location chosen there are other benefits

It's about access from the major freeway system. There is also a bus line running right out front of the W Broad Location. Not to mention the area on W Broad is flush with possible low level employees for the Casino and any Hotels etc that may move in. Six lanes versus two lanes on the route in is a big difference too.Uh, no, it hasn't. At least not successfully from a business standpoint over the last 20 years.

Scioto Downs has lost millions of dollars based on the public filings of MNR Gaming, and Beulah would have been closed a long time ago if it wasn't for AmericaTab keeping it afloat and the current owners holding out for slots. In the best of times Beulah was barely able to turn a small profit. The current owner bought the place out of bankruptcy in 1986 and had said publicly that he was going to close the place in 1996 if full card simulcasting didn't pass. He's said the same thing about needing slots to survive now. That doesn't sound to me like both tracks are being supported in the marketplace.

Both locations are a mile or so away from direct exits off I-270. Scioto is easier access because 23 is a highway, whereas Broadway is a 4 lane street with a ton of stoplights, school zones and a 35mph speed limit. Scioto is by far the better location IMO from an access standpoint, but either way for a racetrack to truly succeed in the Columbus market there needs to be only one, especially with the casinos coming in. You could make a case for a nice OTB on the north side of town, but Ohio's OTB laws make that nearly impossible.