NEWS
TrackNet signals unavailable in Las Vegas
Posted: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 3:27 PM
by Frank Angst
After a bit of tranquility on the off-track wagering front at the start of 2009, those good times have failed to continue through the first month of the New Year.
In Nevada, TrackNet Media is asking casino racebooks to pay an increased rate for simulcast signals. Although the contract expired January 1, an extension was granted through January 24.
With the two sides failing to reach an agreement, TrackNet cut off racing signals and betting information for its tracks to Nevada. Those tracks include winter stalwarts Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita Park as well as Golden Gate Fields, Laurel Park, and Oaklawn Park.
TrackNet handles signals for tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc., Magna Entertainment Corp., and others. TrackNet President Scott Daruty said Churchill-owned Fair Grounds is still available because of a previous agreement.
Wynn Las Vegas Race and Sports Director John Avello, who has been involved with the negotiations for the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association, said the two sides had made no progress since Sunday. The races will not be shown at Las Vegas casinos on Wednesday.
“We don’t have the signals,” Avello said. “If someone walks in and wants to bet on one of those tracks, we’ll book their action.”
Nevada allows casinos to book wagers but TrackNet is not making signals or betting information available to the casinos.
TrackNet, which handles racing signals for tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc., Magna Entertainment Corp., and others, has been meeting with the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association since the beginning of the year. On January 9, the two sides had made enough progress to grant a deadline extension through January 24, an agreement that guaranteed no interruption of signals during the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.
Daruty said between January 9 and the January 25 extended deadline, the talks regressed.
“We’re still talking, but I think we’ve moved backward from the time the extension was granted,” Daruty said.
With its impressive stable of tracks, TrackNet holds a strong negotiating position, a strength horsemen have worked to counter through the formation of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Group. Nevada casinos receive rates far better than current advance deposit wagering providers, paying about a 3% fee for signals.
“When Vegas represented 10% to 15% of our off-track handle, it made sense to negotiate a lower rate,” Daruty said. Nevada casinos now account for less than 4% of off-track handle.
In the expired deal, the casinos also did not face expenses typically charged to off-track outlets, including fees for subscription rates for the signals or charged by the tote companies for wager processing.
Other simulcast players also are facing difficulties. In California, beginning on January 19 horsemen refused to allow the export of signals from California tracks Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields to tracks owned by Churchill Downs and Magna. The Thoroughbred Owners of California were upset about a source-market-fee aspect of an advance deposit wagering agreement with TrackNet.
By January 26, the signals at Churchill-owned Arlington Park near Chicago and Fair Grounds in New Orleans had been restored, leaving just Churchill Downs in the dark. Calder Race Course in South Florida received an exemption because of a simulcast agreement with nearby Magna-owned Gulfstream Park.
On Wednesday, Churchill canceled all of its simulcast races because of an ice storm in Louisville.
Frank Angst is senior writer for Thoroughbred Times
