FTBOA CEO Powell Address NJ Conference

by Brian DiDonato 

Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association (FTBOA) CEO and Executive Vice President Lonny Powell was a featured speaker at the 18th annual East Coast Gaming Congress and iGaming Institute in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Tuesday. Powell, who was a member of a panel entitled ‘Florida: Ripe for Major Expansion…?’, gave an update on the reportedly forthcoming resolution between Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course, which have been racing head-to-head since last July. 

“To their credit, a deal seems–I don’t know if imminent is too strong of a word–but it’s extremely close right now to where the horsemen are comfortable,” said Powell, who has also held executive positions with various Thoroughbred organizations, including Santa Anita Park and its then-parent company Magna Entertainment, the NTRA and Racing Commissioners International. “It’s not a perfect deal, but I think we will get away from the overlap and get to growing the parimutuel handle and the slots handle at those facilities and put on the type of show that we’re more accustomed to in South Florida. It evolves a little bit each and every day, but it’s closer than it’s ever been and I’m optimistic that they’ll come together. It’ll have some warts and hairs on it that will need to be trimmed and operated on, but we’re cautiously optimistic that it’s going to happen.” 

The Stronach Group and Churchill Downs, Inc., parent companies of Gulfstream and Calder, respectively, reached a tentative agreement late last month that would end racing overlap and allow The Stronach Group to operate races at both tracks, but the deal has not yet been approved by horsemen. 

Much of Tuesday’s panel focused on Florida’s prospects for expanded gaming. While an overhaul of the state’s gaming regulation that would lead to additional casinos and gaming options has been in the works for some time, no progress was made during the recently concluded 2014 legislative session. 

“Florida is one of the greatest places to live, it’s one of the greatest places to be in the pari-mutuel business or horse business,” offered Powell. “But still, when you look at our legislative session this year it was, ‘Welcome to Florida gaming and legislation: where anything can happen, but nothing will.’… At the end of the day, what we achieved was kicking the can down the road for the next session to deal with the same tough topics.” 

Powell explained that a lack of strong regulation in a state that features an already diverse and complicated gaming landscape has presented obstacles for an otherwise flourishing Florida Thoroughbred industry, which Powell said boasts the only increase in foal crop in North America over the past two years. 

“We have lots of unintended, or sometimes-intended, consequences with our loopholes and our regulation,” Powell noted. “Just on the racing side of things, it has allowed for all kinds of rogue racing permits that do things as crazy as allow–which we’ve stopped after a lot of money and time–barrel races on Quarter Horses being pari-mutuel. Nowhere else in the country does this happen because they have regulation in other parts of the country.” 

He quipped, “The next step for Florida could be to put some hermit crabs on this table with a couple thimbles and run them around and have some slots and cards. That sets a very low threshold–that’s not good. If you’re the number two horse-producing jurisdiction in North America [as Florida is], it doesn’t create a lot of room for farms or for horses.” 
Powell also noted the drawbacks for the racing industry of being lumped together with other gambling-related industries. 

“This session, it got bizarre, because the line got erased–all of us, whether it be the casino companies that are trying to come in for the first time; those of us that have been in the state forever with parimutuels; internet folks, everybody else, all got placed into the same bucket and we’re paralyzed,” he explained. “Even things that have nothing to do with gaming, like medication reform for horses, which is badly needed nationwide and in Florida we’re one of the top racing states, couldn’t be dealt with because we’re all going to be part of a new statute, we’re all part of an existing statute, and we’re all just treated the same.” 

Despite the current stagnation, however, Powell believes gaming expansion in the state of Florida is forthcoming. “Expansion is inevitable, it’s going to happen. We have a lot of gaming right now as it is–the key will be whether [expansion] can be controlled and done properly, but it is going to happen.” 

Also on the panel was Isadore Havenick, Vice President, Magic City Casino/Naples Fort Meyers Dog Track. Havenick presented a far more grim picture of Florida’s greyhound racing industry than Powell did of its Thoroughbred industry. 
“The dog business in Florida is dying,” announced Havenick. “I go to horse races–I work at a dog track and I don’t think I’ve stepped outside to watch a dog race in maybe 10 years. The only people who watch dog races are people who walk outside from the slot machines to have a cigarette…otherwise, if we have 10 people watching dog racing, it’s a big crowd.” 

While Powell noted the FTBOA’s strong stance against the concept of “de-coupling,” Havenick outlined a position held by many dog track operators in the state. Despite dog racing’s waning popularity, Florida tracks are required to hold significantly more races than Thoroughbred, harness or jai alai facilities in order to maintain their gaming licenses. Because of this lack of profitability, dog tracks have, so far unsuccessfully, sought to “de-couple” their casino gaming licenses from their racing licenses. This was often presented as a potential negative outcome of the introduction of racinos at struggling Thoroughbred tracks. 

“We are mandated by the state of Florida to lose at least $2.5 million a year on dog racing,” said Havenick. “Every year, we come back and say ‘Can we please have a minimum number like horses, jai alai and harness?’ And we’re told no.” He added, “The dog tracks are trying to separate their dog permits from poker and slots, so if and when dog racing is ever illegal, we can continue with our operations.”