Quote:
Originally Posted by trying2win
Who needs Twinspires anyway? Premier Turf Club is not making excuses re the Colonial Downs signal. PTC is carrying Colonial Downs, and you get a cash rebate to boot for your business.
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Spoken like someone who doesn't live in Virginia. Residents there currently need a licensed ADW in VA to place bets. After the new rules go into effect they need an ADW that pays the SMF and taxes specified to take VA residents ... or ignores/challenges the law.
Premier Turf is not currently licensed in Virginia, so either they are not taking VA customers, or they are doing so illegally and Colonial just doesn't know about it. Given the SMF requirements under the new law, VA residents would not be able to get much of anything as a rebate (if any rebate at all) from PTC on Colonial ... or any other racetrack for that matter.
It will be easy for an ADW to get Colonial's signal under the new law if they are not operating in Virginia. That way there would be no source market fees or taxes to worry about. If an ADW wants to take VA customers then they are not going to get the Colonial signal without complying with the law.
My guess is the larger ADW's will drop the Colonial signal and fight any attempts by the track, racing commission, or the VA AG's office to stop them from taking bets from VA residents. The short meet is not a big deal to lose for them, and winning a case there would have far reaching benefits for the ADW's.
I have long thought VA would be the battleground for this since it took so long for any of the ADW's (other than Colonial's own) to get licensed there and the meets were so short that the ADW's really wouldn't care about losing them in the fight. They can't fight in CA or NJ because the content is too valuable. The fallout from this is going to be fun to watch.