Quote:
Originally Posted by Cannon Shell
The thing is though Freddy it wasnt the states money anyway. The money came from a deal between Atlantic city casinos and the track. Monmouth/horseracing doesnt lose money for the state. The NJSEA loses money but it is really has virtually no usefulness at this point anyway
|
It was the last of the casino supplement and I am ok with the Casino's pulling that off the table. Atlantic City is totally screwed. You have to understand that AC grew a huge infrastructure when the US was devoid of gambling. Now the country is loaded with gambling and the State does have to deal with ten of thousands of jobs that need some consideration.
The key is not the money the casinos were giving the tracks, the key was reinventing a sustainable model for an industry. IMO if the State invested in racing for 5 years at MP and atificially supported purses with seed money the product could have been groomed in time to be self sustaining and ultimately OK for the horseman, bettors and the State.
Government is suppose to invest in things which can spur growth. having a reasonably healthy horse business in NJ that is sustainable is worthy of investment. Just busting a nut of 30 million in a summer was silly. Yet what that 30 mil showed us is that big purses with big fields is a product people willingly wager on. As for 80k allowance races that still had 6 horses well that is a function of horse flesh and too many of the same horses with to few a trainer which over 5 years could have rectified itself with some work.
With NYRA gettng slot revenue will see if they are prudent enough to push for less dates, of course we all realize that what NYRA wants to do isnt always what the idiots who control them think they should do? Let's hope they try like heck to do the right thing.