2002 - Harness Tracks of America, Inc.

HARNESS TRACKS OF AMERICA
Executive Newsletter
A daily fax and e-mail report on racing and gaming developments in North America and beyond
Stanley F. Bergstein, Editor
GEORGE WANTS INTERNET BAN
In case you wondered where the White House
stands on Internet betting, you now know. The
White House is urging Senate majority leader Tom
Daschle to schedule a vote before the end of the
year on H.R. 556, the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Funding Prohibition Act, which precludes the use
of bank instruments to fund betting on the
Internet. Daschle’s office responded that demands
for legislation make action difficult in a short
time frame like the upcoming lame-duck session
of Congress. Perhaps more important, a spokeswoman
for Democratic senator Harry Reid of
Nevada, who as Senate majority whip schedules
consideration of legislation by the full Senate, says
it is “highly unlikely” the bill will be considered in
the lame duck session. Perhaps the most significant
statement of all is that of Las Vegas gaming
lawyer Tony Cabot, who says, “When you force
legitimate businesses to the sidelines, it opens the
world to people who operate in gray or black areas.
The online gaming industry would be better
off regulated than being banned. The longer the
U.S. stalls on the issue of legislating or regulating
online gaming, the longer the industry will grow in
gray areas of shadowy activity.” As if to underscore
that remark, Interactive Gaming News reports
that the government of Antigua and Barbuda,
worried about offshore gambling sites that have
migrated to Curacao, Costa Rica and the United
Kingdom, is about to abolish the 3% tax on
Internet gaming companies based there.
A HUGE ISSUE IN ARIZONA
It may not be a major story nationally, but the
three-way fight over slots in Arizona has broken
the state’s campaign fundraising record and is leading
the nation in money raised for ballot issues.
Through Oct. 21, $106 million has
been raised nationally for 62 ballot propositions.
October 31, 2002
More than a third of that total -- $37.3 million --
has been raised for three measures on the ballot
dealing with gaming. This is more than has been
raised in California for seven ballot items there.
Leading the Arizona charge is a 17-tribe Indian
coalition that has spent $20.9 million, most of it
from sponsoring tribes, for Proposition 202, which
would retain the status quo for compacts that give
the tribes a monopoly on casino gaming in the state.
A second proposition supported by Arizona’s Colorado
River Indian tribes has raised $10 million,
and a track coalition, seeking slots at Arizona
tracks, has spent $6.4 million. If none of the three
propositions musters 50% plus one vote next Tuesday,
the issue could go back to the newly elected
governor and legislature, and currently Proposition
202, the front-runner, has 45% support in polls,
with 14% undecided.
AROUND THE CIRCUIT....
Quebec racetracks will get another $5.9 million in
purse subsidies from the provincial government
to pay purses through December, but the
province’s finance minister says that’s it.
SONACC, which runs racing in Quebec, saw its
purse pool run dry last week, saying it had not received
the $1.4 million due from the government
last month.....Rockingham Park in New Hampshire
says it is studying plans to close the track in two
years and develop its 170 acres for other use. If
VLTs are legalized, the track would reconsider, and
if a contract with HBPA is not worked out, harness
racing could return to the Rock.....Shawn Scott has
been turned down by the New Mexico Racing
Commission in his bid to open a track in the southeastern
part of the state. R. D. Hubbard and Ken
Newton remain in consideration.....Joe Lashinger
Jr. and his associates have signed a lease-purchase
agreement with the Delaware County Redevelopment
Authority for 61 acres for their proposed
Chester Downs harness track.