In a recent interview, Fonner Park Chief Executive Officer Bruce Swihart stated if Council Bluffs, Iowa casinos add sports betting, “it would take business away from racetracks in Nebraska, including Fonner, just as casinos have done.” The thoroughbred horse racetrack in Grand Island, Nebraska “will be around for a while,” Swihart said.
He noted, “Fonner Park, I think, still holds a good position in horseracing in Nebraska, although obviously we don’t gather the stature that we have previously had. There’s still a place for us. We’re a great training facility, and a lot of people come here to race before they go other places. And the time of year we race is conducive to running horses, although obviously not so much with the weather. But timing-wise for other horses moving about the nation, it’s still a good place to be. So I’m optimistic that we’ll be around.”
Swihart said, “The state of Nebraska for a long time has held the position that there will be no expanded gambling in the state.” He said he doesn’t expect Nebraska to change its position the subject, noting Governor Pete Ricketts said, “Sports betting is illegal in Nebraska and we have no plans to change that.”
Swihart pointed out most of the racetracks that are doing well around the nation “have some sort of expanded gaming, so I’m still hopeful someday we can see part of that.” However, he said, “On the flip side I guess you could almost argue that the state is in the gambling business, because the definition of a gamble is to play a game for money.” He said, regarding the Nebraska Lottery and charitable gaming, “I think they wager over $450 million. So the state is somewhat hypocritical on that stance, I think.”
Swihart said some racetracks across the country will feel the impact when sports betting is legalized in their states. “Any form of competition would be not conducive to that particular sport because there’s only so many gambling dollars to go around,” he said.
