IL racing is screwed again

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Actually horseman are naive to stop lobbying after they finally get slots. As usual horsemans groups are too cheap and stupid to grasp that politicians have to continually be bought off and that evey few years there is a new batch that must be taken care of. Everyone mobilizes to get the slots then once they get them, they all take victory laps, jack up the purses, the tracks immediately start to plot getting rid of us, no one takes care of the customers and soon the state pols are in need of more money. Of course no HBPA or other group takes any of the money and further funds a PAC or even a marketing campaign. It is happening in PA, will happen in NY and wont matter in FL because of the oversaturation of the gambling market is going to break everyone anyway.

Or, what they could do is actually help to make the game more appealing and grow so that it can stand on its own instead of trying to suck up slots money they do nothing to earn.

[GBBob]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Or, what they could do is actually help to make the game more appealing and grow so that it can stand on its own instead of trying to suck up slots money they do nothing to earn.

Hey Craig (sp)..if you know the history of the last 25 years here in IL then feel free to post, otherwise stick to your numbers. There is more here than horseman trying to mooch off of slots. The playing field has never been level in Illinois.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by GBBob

Hey Craig (sp)..if you know the history of the last 25 years here in IL then feel free to post, otherwise stick to your numbers. There is more here than horseman trying to mooch off of slots. The playing field has never been level in Illinois.

It is the same everywhere. You think Illinois is worse off than other places? Please.

[Scav]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

It is the same everywhere. You think Illinois is worse off than other places? Please.

Name another state that has its last two governors in jail right now....

[GBBob]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

It is the same everywhere. You think Illinois is worse off than other places? Please.

From a horse racing perspective and an access to Casino opportunities perspective it is worse off than New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Louisiana, Delaware, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, soon to be Massachusetts, West Virginia and others I'm sure I forgot. So yes..it is. All Illinois tracks want is a right to compete in the Casino/Slot arena and they have been told no for 15 years. It would be like Walmart successfully blocking Target from building a store accross the street...it wouldn't happen.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

Or, what they could do is actually help to make the game more appealing and grow so that it can stand on its own instead of trying to suck up slots money they do nothing to earn.

So it is on the horsemen to "make the game more appealing"? What about the tracks which take a much larger share of the pie and don't spend a penny more than is mandated on the racing side? Or like some casino companies that own tracks become outright hostile towards racing? There is this theory that slots tracks become huge money makers for the horsemen when in reality the slot money allows about 25% of horses to break even or better as opposed to the usual 5%.

And yeah I know that takeout at slot tracks/most tracks is still too high in general and most horsemans groups are too hyper focused on maintaining days and purse levels. But when tracks like CD overhaul their players rewards programs and eliminate on track rewards and make everything geared toward their ADW (from which horsemen get about 50% of what they would get from an on track bet) we have our hands full fighting to maintain what we are getting from the portion of the game that "stands on its own".

[cmorioles]

Yes, it is on both the tracks and the horsemen. You have to work together. Slots money will not last. The game is a mess and both tracks and horsemen have a part in that. Subsidies that prop up a failing business model won't last.