at racetracks in
neighboring states
Machines are in place
at racetracks in
neighboring states
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
The Monmouth Park Stakeholders Committee held a public hearing last Tuesday night.
The meeting, held at the Holiday Inn in Tinton Falls, was a chance for public comments and concerns to be addressed by the Stakeholders about the future of the racetrack.
The main topic of the meeting was VLTs (video lottery terminals) on the premises of the Oceanport track.
The Stakeholders, who have met three times, were established to gather input from the public while making the best decision on the track’s future.
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), the owner and operator of the track, has considered a possible lease of the facility to a private operator.
"In the last several years the Sports Authority has received strong interested expressions in the racetrack," Bruce Garland, the vice president of the NJSEA, said. "At this point they have decided to explore what interests are out there."
Lehman Brothers, the Wall Street investment firm, has been hired as a consultant to the authority on the transaction.
They have prepared a referendum that will not be public until there are changes in the authority’s legislation, regarding the potential new lease operators.
"Anything that is not in the best interest of the taxpayers is unacceptable," Garland said. "It will be a lease, not a sale, if anything is done."
Michael Panter, 12th District assemblyman and a member of the Stakeholders Committee, said that the top objective of Monmouth Park will be that it remains a racetrack and not be sold to developers.
"The horse racing Industry in New Jersey faces some challenges that have to be kept in mind in the lease transaction," Panter said. "There are 80,000 acres of breeding farms in New Jersey. Preserving racing is essentially preserving open space."
Garland and Panter said they are looking to protect the employees, the horsemen, the breeders and the local interests in the future plans for the track.
"For Monmouth Park to continue to make money it must have the ability to attract consumers and that means it must remain competitive," Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (6th District), said. "There has recently been quite a bit of talk surrounding the future use of Video Lottery Terminals, or VLTs. VLTs, a fancy term for slot machines, are slowly being instituted in tracks in neighboring states and promise to significantly increase the revenue and purses at those tracks. That means better racing and better gambling. Therefore, it is important that New Jersey’s racing industry, including Monmouth Park, not to be excluded from this new source of revenue."
Panter said there are currently negotiations going on with the casino industry about installing VLTs at the tracks.
"They [the casino industry] recognize the competition with the neighboring states," Panter said. "There has been some hesitancy from the industry to have slot machines outside the casinos."
Many local residents spoke up at the meeting saying that in order for the track to remain competitive with neighboring tracks, VLTs have to be considered on the premises.
"If tracks had slots, the value would be off the scale," Dave Gruskos, a resident of Oceanport, said.
Members of the Stakeholders said Sports Authority intends on making an offer with the casinos. If the tracks have the ability to operate slots and make a profit, one possibility may be to split the profit.
"If Atlantic City is willing to pay $20 million to keep VLTs out," Panter asked, "how much revenue then would it be bringing in?"
One member of the public said that no one in the horse racing business wants to hurt Atlantic City, but many in Atlantic City want to hurt the horse racing industry.
Stakeholder members said that solutions are being discussed, but it is not a simple issue.
"Nothing has happened. We met just twice," Garland said. "Everyone in this area and municipality is a stakeholder. We make every effort to keep people up to date. We will meet publicly after every meeting."
The date for the next meeting has not yet been scheduled.