After operating at a loss in the past, Monmouth Park officials are finally starting to see some financial progress.
Dennis Drazin, advisor to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which operates Monmouth Park, said during the annual media luncheon on May 5 that after two straight years of increased attendance and handle, the racetrack is finally starting to turn around.
“Monmouth Park has been doing pretty well the past couple of years,” Drazin said. “I’m happy to tell you that we are now selfsufficient. Looks like from our 2014 numbers that we will reverse the losing trend and that we will at least break even — maybe show a little profit.”
The increased attendance and handle come at a time when the state continues to pursue legalized sports betting, a court challenge currently being heard in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
According to Drazin, there is a good chance the state will prevail in the pursuit of legalized sports betting.
“We have a better-than-even-chance of winning in the Third Circuit, and even if we lose, the Third Circuit will put down a road map of exactly we get sports betting done in New Jersey,” he said.
Just days after Gov. Chris Christie signed a new bill into law allowing sports wagering, the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA and Major League Baseball filed suit to stop Monmouth Park from accepting wagers on sporting events. On Nov. 21, a federal judge upheld the federal ban on sports wagering, and New Jersey is now appealing that ruling to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Drazin said the current plan is to have legalized sports betting in place by football season; if not, the track will offer fantasy sports gaming, which is currently legal.
He also said there has been some posi- tive movement to allow casino gambling outside of Atlantic City.
“There seems to be finally the political motivation to expand casino gambling beyond Atlantic City and into North Jersey,” Drazin said, adding that Monmouth Park would likely benefit from revenue sharing.
“We are currently losing too many of our gaming dollars in New Jersey to the surrounding states.”
Also appearing at the press conference was Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), who is one of the leading advocates for legalized sports gambling in New Jersey.
Lesniak said there will likely be a ballot question during the November election to gauge the public’s opinion on expanding casino gaming beyond Atlantic City.
He said the two most likely locations for a casino are Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City and the Meadowland in East Rutherford.
According to Drazin, there are other plans in place to support horse racing, including adding an off-track wagering facility in Hillsborough and adding terminals to restaurants and bars in northern New Jersey.
Lesniak said it has been a seven-year pursuit of legalized sports betting, and he compared what sports betting would bring to the horse racing industry to what snowboarding infused into the skiing industry in the 1990s.
Joe Asher, CEO of England-based sports book company William Hill, said Monmouth Park is the perfect place for sports betting. He said the track — with legalized gambling — would have been very popular during the May 2 Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight.
“Could you imagine what that would have been like here at Monmouth Park?” he said. “Sports betting at Monmouth Park would be a real home run.”
Drazin said despite the uncertainty surrounding sports betting and casino gambling, the track will continue to function.
“I’m looking forward to being able to offer world-class racing here at Monmouth Park,” he said. “We’re here to stay. There is no one that is going to close us down. There is no one that is going to put us out of business.”
Monmouth Park’s development plans — including an indoor water park, hotel and other amenities — are tied to the additional revenues projected from sports betting.
Officials broke ground on the restaurant and concert venue on Oct. 8, prior to the court ruling that prohibited sports wagering.
Drazin said the high-end restaurant is expected to open in July. However, with the uncertainty of sports wagering, plans to construct the concert venue were put on hold.
“We are trying, as the year goes on, to offer more and more reasons for people to come to Monmouth and make it more of a destination,” Drazin said.
Drazin has estimated that $1 billion would be wagered each year at Monmouth Park if sports betting were legalized. That could net $75 million in annual revenue for the racetrack, which is Oceanport’s largest taxpayer.