The battle to keep live Thoroughbred racing viable in Florida is a like a coastal town fighting the sea. Seawalls and dune restoration slow the erosion, but the waves keep coming.
For the last 10 years, Florida legislators have contemplated eliminating a requirement that pari-mutuel businesses conduct live events in order to also offer slot machines or card rooms. The change, known as decoupling, was all but assured after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that banned Greyhound racing. The vote "quasi-decoupled" Greyhound permitholders from their legal requirement to run races and set the stage for this year's new gambling law that legally releases the Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park and jai alai frontons from running live events to keep their casino licenses. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the new gambling initiatives into law May 25.
Thoroughbred racetracks are exempt from decoupling but will certainly feel an impact from the new law. Gulfstream Park's casino will now compete with other slots operators that will no longer carry the expense of running live events, and the new law encompasses a new Compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that gives it the authority to offer mobile sports betting.
"When our contract with Calder expired, Churchill converted it from a Thoroughbred permit to a jai alai permit. That was $9 million a year in purses that we lost and still have about $7 million a year up in the air," said Stephen Screnci, president and owner-director for the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. "For Gulfstream to stay coupled and pay us the 14% that we get is a challenge considering what's in the Compact for the Seminoles and the expansion of gaming that's been allowed. We don't have a big casino (at Gulfstream). I think in the end the horsemen are going to end up writing a check for this, losing about $6 million."
The Florida Thoroughbred community was united in its lobbying efforts to remain coupled. The Florida HBPA, Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, Gulfstream, and Tampa Bay Downs were all committed. They also pursued some additional subsidies because of the new gambling opportunities allowed in the Compact.
"While the Compact is good for the Seminoles and a few others it was lacking anything of real value to our Thoroughbred tracks or industry save for an interesting but sure to be challenged sports betting share with the Tribe and pari-mutuels," said Lonny Powell, CEO for the FTBOA. "We advocated for economic and regulatory rewards for our two live tracks ranging from purse pools funded by the Compact and tax reductions…things that the horsemen, tracks, and breeders can all get our arms around as key foundational support of the jobs and economic impact."
Powell said legislators were sympathetic to the potential impact on Florida's $2.7 billion Thoroughbred industry and the more than 23,000 jobs it supports, but in the end the subsidies were not included in the new law.
The Standardbred racing industry also attempted to remain coupled, concerned that Pompano Park won't continue racing if it doesn't have to, but it lost that fight. State Rep. Dan Daley (D-Sunrise), whose father races at harness tracks throughout the Northeast and Canada, led the coupling effort in the House. He succeeded in having an amendment leaving Standardbred racing coupled added to the House bill but the initiative found no backers in the Senate and the amendment eventually got cut from the final bill.
The Florida Politics website reported that Daley sent a letter to DeSantis asking him to veto the new gambling law, an admitted longshot effort since DeSantis negotiated the Seminole Compact. In his letter, Daley reportedly argued the new law "would be a nail in the coffin for the Standardbred industry in Florida." At stake, Daley wrote, are 5,000-plus jobs directly tied to racing and another 5,000-plus jobs from ancillary businesses, such as tack shops, feed stores, farriers, etc. The new law also decoupled live Quarter Horse racing from gaming licenses.
"It was good and not easy to remain coupled while the other breeds and jai alai all disappear," said Powell. "It was particularly tough to watch the harness folks go through it. No racing requirement is not a positive for breeders, horse sales, farms, owners, trainers, or employees."
Going forward, pari-mutuels will have access to sports betting with the Seminole Tribe serving as the hub. Screnci said the sports betting split will be 60-40, with the Seminoles retaining 60%.
"They assume all the risk, so in principle it sounds fair, but for a lot of reasons I don't think it is going to amount to much for the (pari-mutuel) permitholders," he said. "Maybe if you have FanDuel and DraftKings come in and help us market it…but without support I don't think it is going to be much of a concession.
"Once the Compact gets approved, I'm sure there will be a lot of litigation that will follow. We'll see what holds up over time," Screnci continued. "Meanwhile, our goal is to raise purses and keep our year-round program intact."
Screnci said he would like to see the state create advanced deposit wagering legislation that captures for purses a piece of the wagers Florida residents make on out-of-state races.
It would be a step toward shoring up racing in the Sunshine State—until the next big wave crashes in.
