Gural on Meadowlands future
 

A 2 part video interview by Sam Mckee with Jeff Gural on whats next. Maybe slots in the future

http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/new...l-ive-got.html

Mr. Gural a smart man.

Hope to make a trip to Tioga to see what he's done up there,
and hopefully get an idea of what can be done at The Big M.

He wont have to deal with the high salaries the NJSEA was commanding. He will deal with the unions and most likely involve them in the overall success of the harness meet. He will also clean house and cut down on the waste. I am sure he will also find a more suitable food vendor. I wouldn't be surprised if a deal for Monmouth park isn't in the works at this time!

The new grandstand should feature the Food Court offerings at the Menlo Park Mall. :ThmbUp:



Is that a hint?

No info at WikiLeaks just yet. ;)

you heard the part about the 30-35 year lease. he knows slots and/or casino table games, eventually, are inevitable at the meadowlands.

if he is to get involved, he wants a piece of that action. a lease of that length will put him in that position.

30-35 years is like 3 centuries in the horse racing industry.
We're hard pressed to find people in management to last a mere 3 years
in horse racing let alone 30 years.

What will be interesting to watch will be how new and separate
owners at The Meadowlands and Monmouth Park work with each other.

If you had slots revenue at The Meadowlands would you share it
with the thoroughbred horsemen who do not race in East Rutherford any more? Could be some bad blood between the two breeds on the horizon. :ThmbDown:

staggering figures for atlantic city. how can they survive ?


http://viewfromthegrandstand.blogspo...y-bad-for.html

PacingGuy wrote at his blog:

Of course, if an expansion of casino gaming in the state of New Jersey does occur, there is no assurance it will end up at the Meadowlands. The City of Newark has had a lot of power within the state legislature in recent years and Democratic Mayor Booker has formed an alliance of convenience with Republican Governor Christie, so don't rule out the possibility of a casino showing up in Newark (and possibly Jersey City) instead of the Meadowlands.

I'm not sure Newark or Jersey City is the ideal location for a North Jersey Casino. It'll probably take years to cut through the red tape.

I think horse racing has enough friends in the NJ legislature to keep the thorougbred racing calendar going in some form. The standardbreds future hinges entirely on the potential lease with Mr. Gural and friends.

The thought that the guv would nix the plan for a lease come April 1st
and throw the harness meet into disarray bothers me. That's the point of know return for the Meadowlands Racetrack as we know it.

Newark got the Prudential Center the most logical place to put a casino would be in an area where the state just spent a lot of money setting up the transportation center and built a rather expensive stadium. The Meadowlands can be changed over to house vlt's very quickly. The physical plant is already in place, this is a win-win situation.

Well who "built" that Prudential Center?
Did the NJSEA have any part of that?

If they did, why would they want a venue that competes
with the Izod Center?

As for The Meadowlands, I would definitely press for a fresh approach.
Build the brand new smaller grandstand along Paterson Plank Road.
If the slot machines become a reality they can be housed in a separate building or part of what is now the current grandstand.

I am very concerned with who would get what from the slot machine revenues at the Meadowlands racetrack. It has to be a fair deal all around.
If one of the Atlantic City casino operators wind up running it, they
would be looked upon as "Benedict Arnold" of the NJ Gaming Business. Atlantic City as a tourist destination could raise a white flag at that point.

And what would be the splits be between harness racing/thoroughbred racing/state/ casino operator? A casino in Jersey City or Newark doesn't involve horse racing but sure isn't "prime real estate".

The Meadowlands would need lots of electrical work for VLT's. I once wrote them a letter about 4 screens showing Australian racing and Balmoral only on the side. Say what you want about the NJSEA an executive responded and stated it's hard wired and very hard to change. The guy actually said he would go up to take a look. Of course nothing changed the next time I was there. :rolleyes:

It's the perfect spot people will never take mass transit with gambling money to Newark or Jersey City.

If the state wants to get out the horse racing business - well get out!

No leases. Just sell the track the way they're doing at Monmouth Park !!

Then we'll never have to worry about crooked politicians in the future. :ThmbUp:

I have a close friend who runs the IT dept at the NJSEA I was told they could change over the system to accommodate the older type vlt's by use of a wiring system similar to todays WIFI. I was also told that the newer machines that run off a "linked" system would need the newer type wiring and that these newer machines include the very popular Virtual Blackjack also know as Royal Match 21. Ex Governor Codey is a big advocate on putting a casino at the Meadowlands and recently stated that several current Atlantic City casinos have ownership in the 3 new Pocono casinos who have all recently added table games.

That's another reason why A.C. stubbornly fights against a Meadowlands Racino.

In the end what is best for New Jersey?

That should be the question to answer.

A $50 million tax break for ONE casino, but Monmouth supposedly lost $6 million and horse racing is costing the state money?

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...=2011110129007