Saturday, Feb.6
IHHA Executive Director Tony Somone deserves a pat on the back, as on Thursday, February 4, he procured a one-on-one lobbying session with arguably one of the most powerful men in the Illinois Legislature, Speaker of the House Michael Madigan. During the meeting, Executive Director Somone argued the case of hard working Illinois horsemen telling him that past legislative efforts to help the horse industry have fallen flat. In addition, he told the Speaker that the harness industry is in a state of crisis and without legislative assistance in the current session, the whole industry risks collapse and the loss of thousands of jobs. He reported that Speaker Madigan listened intently and paid particular attention to the discussion of the prospect of future jobs and the fact that a properly written slots bill could raise millions of dollars for both the cash strapped state of Illinois and the dying horse racing industry.
Between Executive Director Somone, President McCaffrey and Legislative Co-Chairmen Hunt and (Hosea) Williams, the IHHA has now met with and personally lobbied Governor Quinn (and his Chief of Staff), Senate President John Cullerton, Senate Minority Leader Christine Rodogno, Asst Majority Leader Art Turner, and House Minority Leader Tom Cross.
The stage has been set and the pieces are in place for this upcoming legislative session. The IHHA strongly encourages all its members to personally contact their Legislators and continue these lobbying efforts. Let them know that the business of horseracing in Illinois is dying and needs legislative assistance to survive. Click on the “Legislative” link on this website to find out who represents you. Illinois harness racing’s survival is dependent on a massive purse producing bill to be passed quickly and it can’t be done without everyone’s assistance!
==============================================================
Tuesday, Feb. 2nd
Just a reminder again to please choose Youbet.com
Advanced Deposit Wagering is now legal in the State of Illinois and the Illinois Harness Horseman’s Association is pleased to announce that Youbet.com will be the “preferred provider.” Under the law, the ADW companies must have a contract with an Illinois racetrack operator and each provider must have the consent of a local horseman’s group. The IHHA has consented to use You-Bet. If a bet is placed anywhere, within the State of Illinois, with You-Bet, on any racetrack around the country, the horsemen share equally in the profits. Twin Spires has reached an agreement with the Illinois T-Breds while TVG has an agreement with Fairmount and their horsemen. Illinois Harness Horsemen will only share in the profits of Twin Spires and TVG when a bet is made on our live product at this time. Those bets are treated just like any other out of state wager. All other ADW companies that are participating in Illinois are doing this in violation of the new law as they have no agreement with tracks or horsemen. So, what this all means is this. If you are going to wager on the internet with an ADW company, please choose You-Bet. We will share in the profits of that wager equally. 1/3 will go to Youbet, 1/3 will go the racetracks and 1/3 will go to horsemen.
ADW is a growing betting platform that has existed for the past 10-15 years. Until now, it has technically been illegal in the State of Illinois. The IHHA estimates that revenues to the purse account from You-Bet will be approximately $600,000 for 2010. While it is a decent amount of money and we needed to be a part of it, it will not vastly change the face of racing in Illinois, at least for the time being. The IHHA believes most of this money will simply be a transfer of money bet at the track or a local OTB to the internet. It is a growing trend however and it is what the customer wants.
===================================================
Monday, Jan. 25
Effective opening night, Wednesday, January 27th, there will be new post times at Balmoral and Maywood.
BALMORAL
Wednesday & Saturdays... First Race 7:10 p.m.
Sundays...First Race 6:30 p.m.
MAYWOOD
Thursdays & Fridays... First Race 7:10 p.m.
===================================================
Saturday, Jan 23
On Friday evening about 100 horsemen gathered for about 2 1/2 hours at Balmoral Park to discuss the 2010 racing season. President of the IHHA, Dave McCaffrey, as he has for the last six months painted a bleak picture. “We are about $1.6 million in debt and we're not generating what we're paying out in purses. Without the 3% money coming soon, 2010 will look very, very different and be financially impossible." The best case scenario for the release of that money is sometime in March.
Obviously the main topic of discussion was why after three weeks off is there such a drastic (25%) purse cut. Dave explained the intricacies of how we earn our purse money and what percentages we actually earn from handle. He showed how even though on some nights we handle a million dollars, 80% of that money comes from out of state where we receive only about 1.4%. We gain much more on live handle in state (between 4.75% and 11.75% per bet) but there is, unfortunately very little of that. In other words, 80% of our handle on a million dollar night produces only $11,200 in purse money. Very simply put, we don't generate what we've been spending.
Recapture, was also discussed. Recapture owed in 2010 figures to be just under four million dollars. Our 2010 contract will defer 70% of that and we will pay 30% this year out of our purse account. So, in doing the math, we will pay about $1.2 million for recapture this year. With purses at their current level, that means that the effect the 30% of recapture has on purses is around a negative 7-10%.
Other topics high on the list of angst for horsemen are the tracks lack of proper marketing, the poor condition of the backside and our own integrity question marks. The horsemen were also very vocal about an Illinois owned, bred, or trained preference system. A consistent question was why do we need to accept other low quality horses from out of state. We have plenty of our own cheap horses. Horsemen understand the need for quality animals coming to our tracks but are insistent that we keep out low end non-Illinois owned, bred, or trained horses.
Slots at tracks were also discussed. Dave reiterated that slots were the only long term way out of the mess in which we currently find ourselves. He explained that good slots bills have passed through the Senate but always stalled in the House. We will continue trying and we will continue to make sure the bill is good for the horsemen. Dave explained that there was language for a new slots bill for 2010 which was an unfair bill for horsemen. It was a much less equitable bill for us than in previous years.
On a more upbeat note, the horsemen were happy that the contribution to open stakes was cut by 50% and the assignment of the rail was eliminated at Maywood Park. Other than that it was a meeting that was honest about the immediate difficulties that we face and how potentially bad Illinois harness racing could become if the 3% money isn't released or if a fair slot bill isn't passed.
===========================================
Thursday, Jan.21
On Wednesday, Jan. 20 the IHHA and Maywood/Balmoral Park reached an agreement for a 2010 contract. Here are some facts which led to the agreement:
We finished last year with a $2.3 million deficit in the purse account, meaning the tracks overpaid purses by that much. After the first three weeks of this year, we anticipate returning to racing with a deficit of $1.5 million. In other words, between the outs money and the purse money generated from simulcasting, we earned approximately $800,000 for the purse account. That leaves a deficit of about $1.5 million when we start back racing on January 27th. The tracks have told us that in an effort to further reduce the debt or at least keep the debt from growing they have decided to cut purses.
There will be added nine horse fields at Maywood Park. This will allow more horses to get in per week as well as generate better handles on those nights. The tracks contribution for each nine horse field will be $100 per race.
There will be no more assignment of the rail at any time.
Horsemen have cut their purse contributions on open stake races by 50%, in yet another attempt to save purse money.
In regards to recapture the tracks will defer 70% of the amount they are owed. Meaning, only 30% of the recapture owed in 2010 will be taken out of the purse account.
No one is happy about this agreement. But, the sad fact remains because of people changing to computer betting, reduced wagering from within Illinois, and an overall decrease in handle (26% in '09) our purse account is hemorrhaging money. Simply put, we didn't come close to generating what we paid out in '09. As a result, we are ridden with debt and our lender has chosen to try and get some of the loan back. If the boat money is not released soon, 2010 will be a very long and financially unrewarding year in Chicago harness racing.
========================================================
Wednesday, Dec. 23
On Wednesday afternoon the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals entered an order on the Boats request to continue the TRO on the HB 1918 money. That means that the money must stay in escrow until after the next set of oral arguments are heard. Those arguments are scheduled for the week of February 23. Hopefully, a favorable ruling will be handed down sometime thereafter. This is very disappointing to all of us. The wait continues.
========================================================
Tuesday, Dec. 22
A website has been created to encourage lawmakers to save the capital bill by getting slots to the racetracks. Go to http://www.savethecapitalbill.com and show you agree by signing a letter of support.
========================================================
Tuesday, December 8th
The IHHA is pleased to announce its inductees to the 2009 Hall of Fame.
>more
