Monmouth situation increasingly dire..

[jms62]

Originally Posted by freddymo

The state of NJ should be ashamed. They had a magnificent concept, and it was a terriffic meet to attend bet and be part of. I swear I dont get it.

What is not to get. One could surmise that Christie has lots of "Friends" in Atlantic City. One also could surmise by his not squashing the absolute debacle Xanadu project, he has a lot of developer friends. Wait until Sports Betting comes to NJ and they decide that it will only be allowed in Atlantic City even though the Race tracks have been the only game in town for Betting on a sporting event.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by jms62

What is not to get. One could surmise that Christie has lots of "Friends" in Atlantic City. One also could surmise by his not squashing the absolute debacle Xanadu project, he has a lot of developer friends. Wait until Sports Betting comes to NJ and they decide that it will only be allowed in Atlantic City even though the Race tracks have been the only game in town for Betting on a sporting event.

At this point, don't they almost have to go through with the rest of the project (whatever it is)? The structure has been up forever, although I have no idea what the current plans are and what it looks like inside. All they would be doing by tearing it down is burning every single dollar they invested into the project. It probably is a lose lose proposition, but at this point maybe they can still salvage the place as a mall.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

At this point, don't they almost have to go through with the rest of the project (whatever it is)? The structure has been up forever, although I have no idea what the current plans are and what it looks like inside. All they would be doing by tearing it down is burning every single dollar they invested into the project. It probably is a lose lose proposition, but at this point maybe they can still salvage the place as a mall.

Say you bought Enron at its high, would you continue investing in it all the way down to zero? At what point do you stop throwing good money after bad?

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by jms62

Say you bought Enron at its high, would you continue investing in it all the way down to zero? At what point do you stop throwing good money after bad?

I think that's a bad analogy J. It's not like they have zero. They still have a massive structure with parking that (seems to be) built already. Not to mention that they now have a mass transit option to the place as well. I just think ditching at this point might by more of a colossal waste than finally following through with the project. Obviously if it's a mirage and it's nowhere near being done and the price tag is more ridiculous than ever, then yes I think it should be scrapped.

[freddymo]

I thought it was a great idea. I thought that if the State allocated 100mil over 5 years to reinvent the horse model it COULD have worked. Instead they shot there load in a summer.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by freddymo

I thought it was a great idea. I thought that if the State allocated 100mil over 5 years to reinvent the horse model it COULD have worked. Instead they shot there load in a summer.

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

[freddymo]

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.