Vol. 4, No. 6, June 2007
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Jersey Tracks: Higher subsidy needed
Three years ago, Atlantic City casino owners cut a deal to subsidize purses at New Jersey racetracks to keep video lottery terminals out of the Monmouth Park and Meadowlands tracks. Track owners now want more money.
The total of $86 million pledged to the track out of Atlantic City casino revenues will be done next year. Last month, with new bills circulating in the legislature to add VLTs to the tracks as a way to compete with racinos in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York, track owners said a new deal may be in the works to double the subsidy paid by the casinos to prop up purses.
Jerold Zaro, chairman of the Monmouth Park Breeders' Cup Host Committee, said last month at a press conference marking the start of the track’s live racing season that a new deal on subsidies is near.
“I believe we will have an arrangement in the not-to-distant future to announce, and until we have that it will remain a priority,” Zaro said. He noted that increased pressure on the industry from Pennsylvania and New York racinos will require a big increase in subsidies by the casino industry, in exchange for an agreement by the tracks not to push for VLTs.
George Zoffinger, the head of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns the Meadowlands Racetrack, said state tracks need slots to survive and threatened to push for them if an increased subsidy isn’t approved.
Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, stopped short of saying any deal is in the works, reminding a reporter that the current subsidy agreement does not expire until the end of 2008. He said the association is currently analyzing the current subsidy and related issues, and will discuss the issue with track owners “at the appropriate time.”
