The Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission recently approved an 18-month trial for fixed-odds wagering on horse and greyhound racing. However, Dan Hartman, director of the Division of Gaming, told commissioners although all stakeholders signed off on the change, horsemen’s groups, tracks or the state horseracing commission could withdraw approvals any time. Colorado joins New Jersey as the only states to test this form of race wagering.
Hartman said, “There is concern this will hurt the horse industry in Colorado, but the consents can be withdrawn at any time, and we have the ability to review. It’s been very lucrative in bringing back horseracing in other countries around the world.”
Hartman noted purses in Australia have doubled, and fixed-odds horseracing has “brought new people into sports wagering” in other countries. He said the goal is to introduce the state’s sports bettors−which number up to 800,000 individuals−to racing and help rejuvenate the sport.
“I felt all along that we could do it by rule, because it’s a sport and we’re bringing it on as a sport. The intent was to not negatively impact the racing industry in Colorado, because Arapahoe Park is just one track, and it’s a small track, so we didn’t want to steamroll everybody there,” Hartman said.
Jim Mulvihil, interim executive director at the Colorado Horse Racing Association, said, “The horsemen remain very excited about the prospect of fixed odds in Colorado and the potential impact on our purses. We look forward to working with all of the stakeholders to establish a model that works for everyone and grows the sport.”
With fixed-odds wagering, each operator will have to make its own deals with the horsemen, the racing commission, the track where the event is being held and the track receiving the transmission of the event. With other sports, if an operator is approved to add a sport, league or event, every operator can then offer the sport or league or event.
Fixed-odds wagering on racing will taxed as a sports wager, at 10 percent, Hartman said. “Let’s try it, and let’s see how it works, before everyone digs in. The groups that don’t seem like they want to play, they don’t have to. They can sit on the sidelines. If we have to start it with some of the smaller tracks, or with international content, that’s what it is.”
