There is no doubt that the future of The Meadowlands is uncertain. In the weeks leading up to the Hambletonian and the festivities that go with it, there has been much discussion about the future of the facility

. It all started with the Report of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on New Jersey Gaming, Sports and Entertainment. I have read the report and the many comments that a lot of you have posted on the Standardbred Canada web site. In this blog, I offer my take on this situation.

The Governor’s Advisory Commission on New Jersey Gaming, Sports and Entertainment (the “Commission”) was chaired by former New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) chairman Jon Hanson. In its report, the Commission sets out, among other things, the state of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, Atlantic City, and the gaming, sports and entertainment industries in New Jersey in general. The part that is most interesting to us as racing fans is Part VI, which looks at options for preserving live horse racing in the state in a way “that does not require external funding”, i.e. tax dollars.

I do not need to tell you how important The Meadowlands is to harness racing. It is one of the most revered venues in the sport. It is where all of harness racing’s participants aspire to race. This is harness racing’s version of the big leagues. The Meadowlands hosts many of the most prestigious events in harness racing, and success in those events comes with money, bragging rights and high stud values. Even on nights where there are no major stake races, fans across North America, including race goers in every province in Canada, are faithfully watching and wagering.

Harness racing could conceivably continue to exist without The Meadowlands. The sport remains strong in Ontario, where slots ensure solid purses for races of all classes. Likewise, Pennsylvania and New York are thriving due to slots. The Commission’s report even alludes to that. If harness racing in New Jersey were to cease, the sport would carry on. Nonetheless, the loss of The Meadowlands would be a huge blow to harness racing, and would leave a void that the rest of North America’s tracks and horsepeople could never completely fill, even with their best efforts. The Meadowlands has its own cachet and nothing can replace that.

Now could someone please explain that to the Commission? In its report, the Commission set out some of the assumptions on which its findings and recommendations are based. One of these was that “Harness racing has become a regional niche sport with limited national media attention”. The other was that “The Meadowlands Racetrack no longer resonates as a viable entertainment option to large segments of the population, except on major race days”. What the Commission fails to notice is that the importance of The Meadowlands extends far beyond horsepeople and fans within the boundaries of the state of New Jersey, and that The Meadowlands has “customers”, if you will, across North America. You can even bet on The Meadowlands in such places as Las Vegas and Oregon, which are not in regions that present live performances of this supposedly “regional niche sport”.

We know casino operators in Atlantic City have a lot of influence on New Jersey legislators. It is also apparent that the State no longer wishes to continue spending tax dollars on horse racing, and that casinos neither want to continue to subsidize racing or have it compete with casinos for gambling dollars. Given that this is the case, why not find a solution that would satisfy each of these interests and protect the interests of horse racing as well.

I would like to see the State offer gaming operators the opportunity to bid on the right to operate slots at The Meadowlands. All gaming companies would be eligible to bid, including the Atlantic City casino owners and Pennsylvania-based Penn National Gaming and Greenwood Racing. The latter two entities own and operate Freehold Raceway and an Off-Track Wagering Facility in the Garden State. Two or more of these bidders could even form a consortium to operate slots at New Jersey tracks. Ontario’s commercial casinos at Rama, Windsor and Niagara are operated by gaming companies on behalf of the provincial government, so a similar model may be successful in New Jersey.

The Commission report glosses over the idea of having slots at racetracks. The arguments set out in the report as to why it cannot happen include the need to amend the state constitution to allow for it, the time it would take to set up slots at racetracks and that “the existence of casinos, racinos and slot machines in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York further exacerbates the problem”. The third of these arguments makes no sense. Slots in neighbouring jurisdictions do not “exacerbate the problem”; they highlight the need for New Jersey to follow suit. As for the other two arguments, surely where there is political will, there is a way to amend the state constitution and have slots operating within an optimal time frame.

What is the real reason the State and gaming companies have not given more serious thought to having slots at racetracks, with gaming companies in on the action, just like Harrah’s and Mohegan Sun have done in Pennsylvania? Is it because gaming companies would prefer to carry on doing business as usual in Atlantic City, without competition from racetracks – and without having to incur the costs of operating a racetrack in order to earn other gaming revenues? Do casino operators have such control over state legislators that they would not allow that to be considered as an option?

Despite all the despair and the seemingly low prospect of a quick and favourable outcome, there is hope. As reported this week on the SC web site, two senators from southern New Jersey have vowed to find ways to keep horse racing alive in New Jersey. Let us hope that their influence and efforts gather the momentum they need. Let us hope, for the sake of our sport, that a sensible solution can be found. It would be an absolute shame if the state that boasts that it “has more horses per square mile than any other state” were to allow its reputation in the harness racing world to be irreparably damaged by decisions whose financial – and perhaps political – benefits are uncertain and may be short-lived.