Fonner Park suspends interstate simulcast wagering
Fonner Park opens Friday with a six-race card, but the track will not export its signal outside of Nebraska.
The Fonner Park interstate wagering feed to other U.S. states has been cancelled until further notice, as first reported by Paulick Report. Under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, tracks that are not covered by the organization cannot offer wagering across state lines. Fonner does not operate under HISA.
Fonner Park chief executive officer Chris Kotulak said in a statement that the racetrack in Grand Island cannot meet the HISA requirements and remain profitable.
"The unreasonable and overreaching HISA rules and regulations have presented demands and obstacles that a racetrack our size cannot achieve or endure," he said.
Kotulak said track management decided against exporting the simulcast signal while a lawsuit against HISA is still pending.
"Fonner Park is a plaintiff in a large, national, multi-plaintiff lawsuit against HISA, but that lawsuit has not advanced with sufficient clarity to ensure that HISA rules would not be applicable to us. Challenging federal regulations is a gamble my board has currently chosen not to make, as this would leave Fonner Park splayed open and at the mercy of a lengthy judicial process and costly legal circumstances that would significantly damage Fonner Park and our horsemen," Kotulak said.
Fonner is not the only track navigating the issue of whether to offer interstate wagering while the lawsuit against HISA remains pending. Tracks in Texas do not operate under HISA, and though Sam Houston had planned to begin offering interstate wagering earlier this month, they reversed that plan after determining that they needed more time to evaluate the legal landscape.
The interstate wagering prohibition for tracks under HISA took effect July 1. Friday is Fonner's first race day since that provision; its 2022 meet ran from Feb. 19 through May 21. Fonner's first post Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST. The six-race card contains all dirt races between four and six furlongs for a total of $41,700.