The other option that race tracks are looking for is to garner a stimulus of sorts from the state. They are requesting money to be taken off of tax revenue dollars from other gambling entities and given to them to save their individual businesses. In some areas of the country racing is in danger of completely being eliminated due to decreased revenues. The market is falling quickly and showing no signs of revival though the recession is over. It is making it difficult for the racing industry to see a future for itself. One thing that worked during the recession was a stimulus package President Obama approved for the banking industry and the automobile industry. By fueling big dollars into those markets they were able to restructure their debts and overcome their problems with finances. The racing market is hoping the same can be done for them, only not on the federal level. Rather they are looking to states to work with them and help save them.

This is a hard decision because gambling companies are not letting go of their own funds readily. They believe that they too are still in a difficult situation. Gambling was another market that declined in revenues over the recessionary period. The gaming companies around had a hard time and saw their own declines. Those declines made they worried about their own markets. Though they are seeing some signs of change now, it still isn’t to the point where operators want to put hundreds of thousands of dollars into a different market. They are fighting hard to make sure that they don’t have to. Legislators don’t have to make the decision to offer a stimulus to the racing market. it could depend on whether or not it is developed in the market. if a race track has a long history legislators may be more prone to helping it survive with extra funding. If it is newer however, its operators may be on their own with reviving their businesses. Of course this isn’t what they want to hear but the market overall isn’t stable yet. It still is struggling to bet its own footing and extending it even more, may be the worst thing legislators can possibly do.

Racing operators are having lots of problems these days. Most are still reeling financially from the huge decline in revenues they experienced during the recession. They know that they have few options to save their markets. Right now race track operators are looking for two things to save them:

1) Slot machine gaming
2) Money from the other gambling entities within their states

The first option is by far the most popular. Many gaming companies are pushing for changes to allow them to bring in slot machines. It is no secret that slots are great money makers. Not only do they bring people in, but they also are cash cows. Consider that playing a game with a moderate per-spin rate of just $1, can easily bring in $100 per hour, assuming the gamer is averaging their spins. A lot of games bring in bigger rates than that. They are upwards of $10 to spin. It is easy to see how gaming companies come up with huge dollars, most of which can be attributed to their slot parlor. Now racing companies are trying to bring slots to their own gaming floors to increase revenue and increase traffic. They believe they can use the additional money to bring in that much more income, and in turn create bigger races. Bigger races will bring in larger number of gamers who want to wager not only on the slots, but on races too.

This is a plan that many racing companies around the world are employing but they need legislative approval to make the move. Not all are getting it. Though it seems that this would be the perfect option for them to continue operating, there is a bigger issue at hand. By increasing slots gaming, legislators know, that it could bring down the revenue that slots parlors are bringing in for them. It also could threaten the market of Indian-owned casinos. Add to the mix the huge growth in online slots gaming and it may stretch the gaming public so far that no one in the end wins. Legislators are weighing out their options and trying to find solutions to the issue.

Part two coming next.

If you know anything about the New Jersey gaming market then no doubt you have heard of the Meadowlands Race Track. This is located in the state and has been in operations since the mid-60s. Over the years it has become a cultural icon and draw for people who understand its history. The location is the center of a horse racing industry for the state and as of right not it hosts harness and thoroughbred racing. In the location is a main building, barns and then a number of smaller tracks for smaller purses. It is one of those locations that has been around for so long many residents in the area can’t imagine its closing. They may have though. Everyone knows that the racing market has been longsuffering in the industry. People cut back on gambling, but almost completely eliminated race track wagering from their monthly activities during the recession. This put the racing industry in a precarious position. Without the same revenue streams, they had too much of a burden to bear and a lot of them had to lay off, cut back or even close. Now the Meadowlands Race Track is facing the same issue.

Part of the result of what happens with the race track will rest on whether or not state officials allow it to incorporate slots gaming into their facility. Many race tracks around the world are trying the same tactic. They are merging with slots parlors to create a racino. Everyone knows that slots are big draws to a market. if race track owners can lure people in thanks to slots, they can get them to stay and wager on the races. This also would help them to build up their revenue so they can offer bigger purses. Ultimately this is what the big draw for gamers is—large purses and large races. This is the key them to saving the Meadowlands Race Track, but it is also a tall order. No one knows whether or not the operators will be able to make it happen. If not, the iconic race track in New Jersey could be closed down sooner than anyone had hoped.

Illinois is in on the debates over gambling and slot machines right now. In fact, a new proposal is on the table to allow race tracks to bring in slots to help them. It is no secret that racing facilities have suffered greatly over the recession. People cut back on their spending at casinos, but cut back on their spending at racetracks even more. The numbers for race tracks saw a drastic decline and unlike casinos, have not seen a return to the old numbers. It is Arlington Race track that is in question here. The race track wants to bring in a number of slots games to help with revenues and to hopefully attract new gamblers into the market. They want to then entertain them with slots, but have them return to betting on races too. The proposal to bring slots to the state’s race tracks almost got past the General Assembly last year, but then fell short of approval. Now the issue will come up in November again, but race tracks will have to wait for formal decisions until way after that time.

So far the plan was to bring 1,200 video slot games to Arlington park race track and various other tracks in the Chicagoland area. The purpose of the slot initiative is to raise enough funds to defray costs of Illinois’ construction program that is said to cost upwards of $30 billion. Some politicians are pushing for slots but not gambling. They don’t want to bring gambling into the market but the question of slots is still on the table. They don’t believe that there would be a problem or underlying issues with slot machine gambling. In fact, most believe that if regulated and segregated to race tracks, slots could bring in the needed funds to save the market of racing. On the other hand, many politicians are not as open to full fledge gambling. they believe that this is where a lot of additional problems could come into play. Illinois legislators are left to consider the slots initiative and how it will positively affect Arlington Race Track among other race tracks in the state.

When it comes to off-track betting there are two schools of thought. Some believe that it detracts from the sport and horse/dog racing and others believe that the high revenue it brings in, makes the question of ethics inconsequential. For example, Nebraska is in the midst of such a debate. The state legislators want to bring in racetracks because they believe the move would help them financially. They are proposing that they should be allowed to bring in off track betting for their tracks. They were arguing that they are currently competing against tracks that have slot machines and therefore they were at a disadvantage. Other tracks are benefiting from the huge revenue of slot machines and off-track betting, while Nebraska racetracks are losing out. The state’s racetrack officials also cited that other racetracks use slots to create higher purses and in turn, they can bring in better horses and have higher-pay races. Better horses create better races and that creates more patrons. The entire plan stems from having slot machines on cite to bring in more revenue to work with.

The state racing officials got no where with their petitions, and now they are moving on to a new tactic. Instead of slot machine, they are asking for the addition of off-track betting to their racetracks. They say that they are struggling to make ends meet and if they aren’t allowed to have some auxiliary revenue they are going to have to start cutting costs – which could mean letting people go. This may create an even greater unemployment rate and those jobs may never return without the funds to bring them back.

The state racing board is asking for some solution and that means either slot machines or off-track betting. Either one would be a way to sustain their budgets and close up budgetary holes in the upcoming 2010 year of opertions. Of course, they have made it clear that their number one priority is slot machines because the machines have proven their worth over the years. The machines are being debated though, so whether or not that will happen soon is not known. In the mean time the state is now petitioning for off-track betting to increase much-needed revenues.

It’s no secret that many industries are suffering as a result of the recession. It was a difficult time for every business.  The housing industry and lending industry both changed the way they do business as a result of the recession and how difficult it was. Now, there is another outcry from the gambling industry to deal with.The racing industry is noting how difficult the economy was. The unemployment rate hit an all-time high and caused many people to stop spending. Many homes were cut down to one-income and a good portion were cut down to no-income homes. This caused them to cut all extraneous spending out of their budgets and that included gambling at racetracks. Racetracks’ revenues are down and have been for months now. They are trying hard to rally and turn things around, but it is difficult.

The Kentucky horse racing industry has made it clear that they want to bring slot machines to their operations. Slots have traditionally sustained many casinos throughout hard economic downturns. Slots are highly lucrative and players enjoy them. Las Vegas casinos reported that slot machines bring in about 60% of their total revenues. With numbers like that, it’s no wonder the racing world wants to use slots to bring in money. They are confident if they bring in slots parlors, and rename themselves as “racinos”, a combination of racetrack and slots parlors, that they can turn their financial positions around.

The problem with the Kentucky horse racing industry is that they want to implement slots parlors the way they want them to run. Unfortunately, there are other voices that have a say in the issue. Namely the government is making moves to step in to the fray. It recently came up with a bill that would have it go before the voters in November but the tracks said no. They said that they would not approve that bill under any terms as it would take too long for the vote to happen and they don’t have that much time. The bottom line for the racing industry is that they need something to help them make their budgets and slots parlors are the most viable options. Operators believe that without them their tracks are going to have to start cutting jobs and that many of them may close down. They have been asking their government officials to legalize slot machines at their tracks so that they can compete with surrounding states that already have them.

Recently New York offered their Racing Association the approval to keep running. The problem happened pre-recession. Racetracks saw huge declines in numbers as the economy began its downturn. The biggest problem with the racetracks was the same as with retail outlets—people stopped spending. The housing crash along with the car manufacturer crash created a volatile market. Add to that that the business world began cutting jobs notably. It’s estimated that the economy lost millions of jobs and that created a huge unemployment rate. The result of the recession was that people cut their discretionary spending and that included racetracks. Marley Benton, manager of a racetrack in New York, said, “We are definitely last in line when it comes to spending…people cut back on groceries, but have to buy them. Betting at racetracks is the last thing on people’s mind when they are worried about making their mortgage payments.”

Due to the problems with racetracks, the New York Racing Association, NYRA, was left with huge deficits and it was questioned whether or not the market would remain altogether. The state decided that the NYRA should be allowed to continue running their industry, rather than bringing some one in to help them manage. Now, that decision is in question. The organization is threatening to cancel the Belmont Stakes if they don’t get slot machine approval.

It’s a tactic that many racetracks around the country are using. They are requesting the approval to turn into “racinos”, a racetrack with slot machine casino combination. The added gambling offering has managed to spur racetracks back into financial viability within the market. Slot machines have proven to be the most reliable gambling games on the market. Las Vegas knows all too well the power of the slot machine. It reported that in previous years about 60% of their total revenues came in due to the slots parlor. In the recession, slots had the flexibility to remain low-price ways to gamble. High-stakes tables suffered, but the penny-slots never did. Penny slots have remained stable in revenues throughout the pre-recession, recession and post-recessionary times.

Part two coming next.

The state of Maryland is divided on whether or not they’d keep coming to a state racetrack, about 70 miles from Baltimore. John Bartenfelter and wife Jeanne, played slots at the Charles Town casino. John said, “We’ll play the slots– but we’ll stay in Maryland.  Annapolis resident Steve Wise said he was, and is still, a fan of Rosecroft Raceway and Laurel horse racing but didn’t believe there was much crossover between slots players and horse players. He said he’s been traveling to Charles Town more frequently than the norm to watch the raced. He added, “I love racing, but slots? Doesn’t seem like much good to put slots at racetracks- the two don’t match.”

Many disagree with Wise. They believe that slots and racetracks have everything to do with each other. Namely– cross promotion.  Slots have proven their worth in the world of gambling time and time again. If you ask any casino manager, they will tell you that slots are what bring in the most consistent revenues of any land-based casino. In addition, online slots are lucrative. There are a wide variety of slots– various numbers of reels, various themes, various bonuses and various payout structures. The amount of slots is dizzying and if you don’t like one slot, you can easily find one that you love. The market is highly competitive and racetrack owners know it!

The new trend is to revamp racetracks to include slot machine parlors. The term for the combination is “racino.” In the recession, racetracks straight across the board have suffered. They have a hard time coming up with clients and people stopped betting at a lot of tracks altogether. Harvey Mason, owner of a small racetrack in Philadelphia, said, “We promoted until we had no promotional budget and people still kept dwindling! Slots are the only thing that could possibly save us.”  Slots are highly popular and the hope is that with a slots casino, people will come in to play slots, and then bet on the races. It’s imperative that racetracks find a new way to bring people in, since the recession killed their normal flow of clients.  Unless these new racinos take off, it may be the end of the racetrack.

Calder Casino and racetrack just received the OK to go ahead with their slot machine installation. Everyone in the gaming industry knows that slot machines are highly lucrative in the market. Even Las Vegas casinos know that slots make up about 60% of their operating income. Now that the recession is deemed “over” but the aftermath is still heavy upon the market, the interesting thing is that slot machines are still proving their worth. In fact, some casino owners are noting how though top-dollar slots are suffering, the popularity of smaller denomination games are more than making up for it. If you walk into any casino you’ll see that the penny and nickel-slots are almost never empty despite the market downturn.

Calder Casino and racetrack was petitioning hard for slots and recently got them. The economy brought many changes to the revenue structures of racetracks. Most have numbers that are drastically down and have the same amounts of expenses. This is causing many problems in the market.  Most casinos are looking to bring in slots parlors to their facilities. In fact, the move is so popular that the new term “racino”, a combination of racetrack and slot casino, has been coined.  The racino just received their first shipment of slot machines. In fact, they came all the way from Illinois. The wait was worth it though.

In the shipment to Calder Casino were 242 brand new slot machines.  The facility is still under construction, but the machines complete a big part of the opening. The pending opening date is going to be some time in January of 2010.  When the facility does officially open it will have a total of 1,225 slot machines installed. The machines will be varied from the penny-slots to the dollar-slots so visitors will be able to pick, according to their bankrolls, what game they want to play. 

Calder Casino is hoping that the inclusion of slot machines will bring it a new audience. The ractrack is not unlike most racetracks in the country that have suffered greatly due to the recession. Hopefully the slot machines will bring more people in and more revenue for the track to enjoy.