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Transforming Network Infrastructure Industry News

[May 19, 2007]

Want to wager on Preakness? Don't bet on it in Pima County: Squabble over OTB sites leaves no one in money

(Arizona Daily Star, The (Tucson) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 19--Gamblers in Pima County hoping to place bets on today's Preakness Stakes are out of luck. So too are the owners of the bars and lounges that host Pima County's off-track betting sites and the staffers who serve them.


Because of a contractual dispute between Tucson Greyhound Park and Phoenix-based Turf Paradise horse track, there has been no off-track betting on horse races since September, and many in the business are doubtful the wagering will return any time soon.

The dispute is costing both tracks, but the ones really feeling the squeeze are the owners of the bars with off-track betting sites, as well as their employees who earn tips. The bars and lounges do not receive any direct payment from the off-track betting, but they get additional foot traffic.

"Definitely, our foot traffic is lower, and it would be nice to see this resolved," said Richard Suskind, owner of Famous Sam's Restaurant & Bar, 7129 E. Golf Links Road.

In off-track betting, people can wager on races broadcast from across the country. A percentage of the total amount bet is shared among the state's tracks, with some of it going to purses.

Following state law, Turf Paradise provides the broadcast signal to all off-track betting sites during its racing season, which runs from September to the end of May. When its season ends, Yavapai Downs, a Prescott Valley-based horse track, provides the signal over the summer.

Because Tucson Greyhound Park holds a gambling license for live racing, it provides the off-track betting sites in nine bars in Pima County.

In the past, Tucson Greyhound Park and Turf Paradise have contractually agreed Tucson Greyhound Park would be the only licensed permittee to run OTB sites in the county. But now, Turf Paradise wants to run Pima County's OTB sites, which would cut into Tucson Greyhound Park's business.

"They have the whole state except for Pima County," said Tom Taylor, general manager for Tucson Greyhound Park.

Taylor downplayed the dispute's impact on Tucson Greyhound Park, saying horse gambling is least significant of the track's main revenue sources.

But while he didn't have statistics immediately available, Geoffrey Gonsher, director of the Arizona Department of Racing, said the loss to Tucson Greyhound Park "was a very large sum."

The dispute has also had a broader impact across the state. He said his department estimates not having horse gambling in Pima County has reduced wagering across the state by $14.8 million. Because purses from live horse racing are determined by the amount of money being bet, he said the dispute is costing the state's horsemen $600,000 in purses.

Traditionally, the Triple Crown races -- the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes -- are a boon to the restaurants that host off-track betting.

"The Kentucky Derby has been crazy," Suskind said. "It's loud. It's raucous. It's fun."

But this year, "it was like having a party and nobody showed up," he said.

Rachael Cothran, who tends bar at the OTB site in Jeff's Pub, said her tips have dropped $300 to $500.

Many of her regulars, she said, now gamble in Benson.

"It took away a lot of our regular customers that only bet on the horses," she said. "It took away a lot of my income that I was making, since we work primarily on tips."

Copyright (c) 2007, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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