Picture what Ontario will look like in 10 years. Billboards will flood our cities with promises of the loosest slots, best craps odds, biggest sportsbooks and largest poker rooms. Las Vegas shows and low priced buffets will lure the casual player to local casinos, while the serious bettors will be encouraged to go online and try their luck. The new Bingo program will compete for eyes and ears in many of our smaller towns.
As the OLG moves forward with their Gaming Modernization strategy, casino companies from around the world will be bidding on getting a piece of the action from 29 proposed zones. Bingo halls will roll out new electronic games at more than 60 additional sites, and compete directly with the casinos. Sports betting, if approved, will be dropped into the gaming landscape with a resounding thud. Online betting will steamroll ahead and lottery distribution will be expanded dramatically.
After March 31, the Slots at Racetracks program will end and horse racing will be left, in large part, to fend for itself. Most tracks in the province will continue to receive some funding, at least for the interim while new casinos are built, but whether or not those tracks continue to hold horse racing has been left out of the OLG discussion.
The three-member panel set up by Ontario`s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has stated that they recognize the value of horse racing in the province and believe the industry needs to be customer-focused. However, with the huge explosion of gaming coming, and a lukewarm commitment to horse racing, it`s hard to imagine how the structure being presented can have the desired outcome.
Under the panel`s model, tracks will still earn the greatest benefits from securing alternative gambling. Horsepeople will have their revenues tied to pari-mutuel betting, which they will inevitably have little control over. While tracks and horsepeople negotiate with the panel on how to divide up purses and dates, who is planning to deal with the imminent gambling crush ahead?
As we walk towards a gambling landscape that many of us can hardly imagine, has anyone drawn up a ten year plan for standardbred horse racing? It is no secret that the sport needs a branding, marketing and promotional revolution. It needs racing and fan focused facilities and an atmosphere that draws people in. And it needs new revenue sources, and lots of them.
With all of the changes taking place, and with the current high profile horse racing has with all three parties on the political spectrum, now is the time to lead change. Frankly, after the last six months of upheaval, the panel, the government and the industry have never been in a better position to accept change.
Can horse racing rise to the challenge and develop a fully funded 2020 Task Force charged with the future growth of the industry in the province? Can you start with a clean slate and determine where the true demand is for this sport and where it can be grown. Whether it involves leasing or building tracks, developing dynamic distribution networks, or creating life changing payoffs, surely there are ways to win the fight of our lives.
Yes, there are many battles around purses and dates, casinos and percentages – each worth talking about. But only an honest and candid approach, and real action, regarding the future of horse racing can right this ship for the long-term.
See you next year.