Still status quo in PA with Parx and Penn Nat account holders and Turf Clubs all blocked on the Monarch signals. I went to a Parx Turf Club Friday and business all around was off over 60%. That's betting, food and beverage. I can't see that they can continue to operate like that for very long.
Add to that a restriction in the PA law that blocks residents by zip code from using ADW's and locks them into either Parx or Harrah's ADW providers, it takes out a bunch of wagers. I was able to get Harrah's Chester ADW access (which is through TVG) and now can bet GP. LRL and the others.
That Mid Atl fellow said that bettors put $1B into the pool yearly and I don't doubt that. However, it's not bet on the Consortium tracks. I go to the Parx Turf Clubs regularly and I'll guess no more than 2% to 5% of money wagered goes to these Consortium tracks, and I think I'm being generous. None of us bet Parx or Penn Nat. I don't think there is any track in that Consortium that handles more than $1M in any given week of live racing. GP handled $9M on this Saturday alone.
I don't know what's going to happen. I agree with Steve and others that the provider should get the majority of the revenue. They pay the bills and put out the product. So I'm OK the Consortium gets the majority of their product, however, that's not a very good product.
Big result is that it takes a ton of simulcasting players out of the loop and it's probably more important to us than the disagree'ers.
More to come, I'm right in this in Philly. Parx and Penn Nat eac. h have Turf Club (OTB) licenses and have each closed one for various reasons (bad neighborhood). To have a casino, they each have to have racing, but not OTB's. I can see them closing them down, with hundreds of jobs lost.
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