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Old 07-31-2009, 06:06 AM   #7
Pacingguy
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 349
Time to Lobby Government Directly

As I mentioned in my blog, talking just to track management does not seem to work. For those tracks that have slots, many are not overly concerened about the success of racing because they are making money; if live racing disappeared they would actually be doing better. Many horsemen refuse to give up any of their VLT share because they don't know how long the good times will last and want to keep every dime they can get. They don't realize by not willing to invest some of their slot revenue, they are hastening their demise.

In states which do not yet have slots, it is time for groups like HANA to start speaking to legislatures thinking of introducing VLTs to have them mandate a portion of the slot revenue be dedicated to reducing takeout. I am not saying the takeouts in this experiment need to be cut 10-15 percent, but at least five percent. Explain to them how the state will actually benefit from increased churn. Tell, them if they don't want to make it permanent, try a three or five year experiment where if the track and the state doesn't break at least even on on track wagering by the end of the time, the money goes back to the track and horsemen.

The tracks and horsemen are not telling people about this. In a newly released study in NJ where they talk about introducing slots, there is reference about reducing the cost of racing but only on the industry's side; not the customer. The customer is still not being considered.
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