Friday, April 12, 2002
Turfway reports attendance down
Riverboats hurt business at tracks
By Patrick Crowley pcrowley@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FLORENCE — Turfway Park took another beating in its just-completed winter-spring thoroughbred meet with attendance, wagering and purses all down from last year.
President Bob Elliston said Thursday that competition from riverboat casinos in southeastern Indiana continues to hurt business at the track.
“We need to be candid to the public about the difficulties we face,” Mr. Elliston said. “There is a backlash to that. People want to be around a winner because it's exciting. But we can't sugarcoat our situation even if being candid adversely affects us in the short run.
“We feel it's necessary to make folks understand the difficult situation we are facing,” he said.
During the 61-day meet that ended April 4, attendance was off 13 percent for a daily average of 1,710 people. Wagering fell by 4.1 percent, and purses dropped 11.2 percent.
During February, all three Indiana riverboat casinos — Argosy in Lawrenceburg, Grand Victoria in Rising Sun and Belterra near Vevay — all “won” more money than in February 2001.
The casinos' “win” is the amount customers lost and accounts for gross gaming revenue — the casinos' winnings before they pay salaries, taxes and other expenses.
Figures for March have not yet been released by the Indiana Gaming Commission.
Mr. Elliston has said since riverboat gambling came to Indiana in 1996, Turfway's attendance and wagering have dropped by nearly 50 percent.
Competition from riverboat casinos was the argument Turfway and Kentucky's other racetracks tried to make in Frankfort over the last four months as the racing industry tried to convince lawmakers to allow video gambling at tracks.
Turfway, Louisville's Churchill Downs and Keeneland in Lexington — a part owner of Turfway — wanted to build gambling halls equipped with hundreds of video slots to better compete against the full-fledged casinos in Indiana.
But the bill, sponsored by House Majority Caucus Chairman Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, suffered from a lack of support among Senate leaders and was not called for a vote.
Mr. Elliston said the racing industry “is not giving up” and will push for the bill in future legislative sessions.
Meanwhile, two of Northern Kentucky's top developers — Kentucky Speedway Chairman Jerry Carroll and Corporex Cos. Chairman Bill Butler — have said they will push for a law that would allow the operation of full-blown casinos in Kentucky.
But as Kentucky tracks continue to struggle against riverboat casinos, River Downs in Anderson Township is optimistic as it prepares for the spring-summer racing season that opens Saturday.
Last year the track, saw an increase in wagering of about $800,000 to $52.2 million during its 2001 spring-summer meet, said spokesman John Englehardt.
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Turfway reports attendance down
