MGCB

A three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has sided with the advance-deposit wagering (ADW) platform TwinSpires in a nearly year-old federal lawsuit against the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB). In an opinion issued Dec. 16, the federal appeals court agreed with the Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) subsidiary that operates TwinSpires by ruling that the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA) of 1978 preempts a Michigan licensing requirement requiring that ADW providers be linked to a licensed racetrack and live race meeting. Back on Feb. 19,...

The federal lawsuit in Michigan involving TwinSpires and a state law requiring advance-deposit wagering (ADW) platforms to partner with a brick-and-mortar racetrack before accepting simulcast wagers took a twist Friday when a judge granted in part and denied in part a motion by state defendants to dismiss the claim initiated back in January by Churchill Downs Technology Initiatives Company. "TwinSpires brings this claim under the implied cause of action to enjoin state actors from violating federal law," United States District Court Judge Hala Jarbou of the Western District of Michigan...

The Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) subsidiary that operates the advance-deposit wagering (ADW) platform TwinSpires sued the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) in federal court Jan. 12, alleging that the state's requirement that ADW providers be linked to a licensed racetrack and live race meeting is "unlawful." The state's track-partnership requirement currently can't be fulfilled by any ADW because there hasn't been any Thoroughbred racing in Michigan since 2018, and Standardbred races last ran in February 2024. TwinSpires (and other ADWs) had previously partnered with the harness operation at Northville Downs,...