3 takeaways from symposium on 'Sports Betting and Horse Racing'
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The University of Louisville's
Equine Industry Program, in conjunction with Horse Racing Nation, hosted the final of three speaker series events for the fall semester this week.
The symposium highlighted the effects of expanded legalized sports betting on horse racing, and there were three clear takeaways from the event when it comes to how the two can coexist.
Of course, there was a theme of sports betting cannibalizing horse racing's wagering dollars. The fear is that if facilities that host horse racing start providing outlets for people to wager on sporting events, the money normally spent on racing would go to sports betting instead.
But officials from Monmouth Park and Hawthorne Race Course joined Kentucky Rep. Adam Koenig, a Republican, in persuading that sports wagering's positives outweigh the negatives.
First, the introduction of sports betting could save struggling racing facilities in the form of purse increases, which should then result in a better live racing product. Secondly, if sports betting takes places at racetracks, there is always the possibility that those there to gamble on sports also bet the horses. And third, the prospect of fixed-odds wagering may become a reality in racing with the addition of sports betting at the track.
John Walsh, Hawthorne's assistant general manager, described a dreary future for the Illinois track until Illinois passed expanded gambling measures. Hawthorne, which hosts Thoroughbred and harness racing, was showing diminished revenues and shrinking purses.
Now Illinois can sport something no other major U.S. city has: a combination of a racetrack, casino and sports betting at the same location.
“It keeps us going," Walsh said. "We were on such a downward spiral. We were running for $50 to 75 million (in purses) a year 10 years ago, and now the whole state is running for maybe $20 million. This is something that is going to turn everything around.”
Not only will Hawthorne be able to infuse casino money into their purse structure, the profits from sports betting on site and over mobile applications will be able to expand and refurbish facilities.
“It gets more bodies in seats," Walsh said. "The purses just from the casino we’re guessing will go up between $25 and $30 million."
Hawthorne only needs to look at the success realized by Monmouth Park, which began abooking sports wagers in June of 2018.
“We are very happy with the amount of money that has been added to not only our purses, but the operations of our racetrack,” said Bill Knauf, Monmouth's vice president of business operations.
Knauf shared that the simulcast handle at Monmouth is up 16-20% since sports betting was introduced.
In order to accommodate the new legalized wagering, Monmouth Park had to renovate a line of mutuel windows that were not being used at the facility into the new William Hill Sports Bar, complete with 27 betting windows and a 75-foot video wall.
Knauf also offered examples of unique wagers patrons at Monmouth Park have been able to play, including jockey win totals for the day and the over and under on the total of winning saddlecloth numbers on a card.
“We are constantly trying to cross over racing with sports,” said Knauf. “We are a racetrack and will always be a racetrack.”
Knauf noted that New Jersey has handled more sports wagering dollars than Nevada over the last few months. He said that the “hold” (money won by their sports book) was more than $17 million, with $5 million of that on site and another $12 million via mobile apps.
Fixed odds may be the next major frontier for horse racing, with legalized sports betting may be the catalyst. Overseas, fixed odds wagering on horse races exceeds that of parimutuel wagering -- and it's not close.
Knauf said fixed odds propositions are the best way to entice sports gamblers to give horses a try.
“The sports bettor is a larger, wider, younger and more affluent audience that wants to see horse racing as they do sports betting,” he said. “They want to bet and see how much they are going to win on that ticket.”
Meanwhile, Koenig is set to once again introduce a bill for sports betting in Kentucky which he feels could generate at least $20 million annually. Kentucky residents can currently cross the border to bet on sports in states such as Indiana and West Virginia.
An intense, four-year track, the Equine Industry Program gives students the professional skills they need to succeed in the horse industry covering equine economics, marketing and law, among other topics. Small class sizes are emphasized along with individualized advising.
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