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
A VALENTINE FOR SARATOGA
It was Happy Valentine’s Day at the Saratoga
Equine Sports Center this morning, after HTA’s
member track received approval last evening
from the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors
to install video lottery terminals. Legal challenges
and court decisions still lie ahead, but of the 23
county supervisors, only 3 voted against the track
having VLTs, and in a population-weighted vote
the supervisors approved VLTs 175,164 to 25,474.
One of the supervisors, Phil Klein, representing
Saratoga Springs, summed up the sentiment of
his colleagues when he said, “Anytime we can
vote to save 500 jobs and create 500 jobs, I believe
we should.” One of the three supervisors
who voted against the proposal tried twice to have
it tabled, but was unable to do so. The meeting
did produce some fine sound bites from the losers,
though, with one of the objectors saying,
“The state gets the elevator, the county, the city
and the harness track get the shaft.” And Joe
Dalton, the president of the Saratoga Springs
Chamber of Commerce who noisily led the opposition,
said, “The barn door is open and the
horse is out.” Skip Carlson, general manager of
the Sports Center, saw it differently, saying he
was “extremely grateful” to the supervisors, and
“absolutely ecstatic” with the results of the vote.
The SRO crowd in attendance, which the
Saratogian said included many employees of the
harness track and other supporters of VLTs, stood
and applauded the supervisors after the final vote.
VERIFYING, DELTA DOWNS
As if confirming the enthusiasm expressed at the
Saratoga vote, The Blood-Horse reported this
morning that “hundreds of eager gamblers lined
up Wednesday outside Delta Downs in Vinton,
LA, to gamble in its new 1,500-machine
slots parlor.” The facility opened yesterday
after months of delay.
February 14, 2002
‘NOT FOR SALE’SIGN IN NY?
He hasn’t outright said ‘no’ yet, but New York
city’s new mayor Michael Bloomberg made it
clear yesterday that selling New York City OTB
is not one of his high priorities, despite facing a
$4.8 billion budget deficit. The mayor did not
include any proceeds from the sale of OTB in his
budget for the city for this year, but also did not
rule out selling the operation. He earlier indicated
his intention of “maximizing the value of
the asset.”
AND A HUGE WRITEOFF ON TV
The advertising slump that hit the market in the
last year has caused Rupert Murdoch’s News
Corporation to take a $909 million operating
charge in its second quarter, largely because of
the expense of its three national sports television
contracts in the U.S. Murdoch, commenting on
the announcement of the writeoff this week, said,
“I think you have to say that the prices being
paid for sports have gone beyond an economic
level, not just here but around the world.” The
corporation’s Fox Entertainment Group wrote
off $387 million of its eight-year, $4.5 billion contract
with the National Football League, $297
million of its eight-year $1.9 billion NASCAR
auto racing deal and $225 million of its six-year,
$2.4 billion contract with Major League Baseball.
Others have felt the impact as well, with
General Electric’s NBC reportedly losing an estimated
$300 million on its NBA telecasts. News
Corporation said the downturn in advertising in
this country prevented it from meeting sales forecasts
for sports broadcasts.
VARENNE RACES, DRIVER HERE
The world’s best trotter, Varenne, races in Italy
Sunday, but his regular driver, Giampaolo
Minnuci, is headed for Las Vegas. Suspended
for recalls in the Prix d’Amerique, which
he won, Minnuci will accept HTA’s Nova
award for Varenne at the Night of Stars.