With New Jersey’s horse-racing industry still struggling to stay afloat, Monmouth Park racetrack in Oceanport NJ is considering adding some non-racing amenities to help make the track profitable again.
The proposed changes were recently outlined to the Oceanport Borough Council by Dennis Drazin, an adviser to New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which leases Monmouth Park from the state.
Among the planned improvements is the William Hill Race & Sports Bar, which will open this year. The bar is located on the first floor of the track’s grandstand. Drazin said the facility will be a full, Las Vegas-style sports book, featuring free-to-play football, simulcast horse racing and a full-service bar.
The association also wants to add an outdoor concert venue, a boardwalk and a new restaurant in 2015.
The restaurant would be open year-round and divided into a casual restaurant area serving hamburgers and hot dogs and another more upscale area, Drazin said. The new facilities would complement an existing miniature golf course and picnic area.
The summer concert venue came out of discussions with concert promoters Live Nation and AEG, Drazin said. The new venue would include 3,500 covered seats and additional uncovered seats.
Horse racing in New Jersey has been struggling for several years, but was even more severely impacted when the state ceased subsidizing tracks in 2012. Monmouth Park was in danger of closing before the Association leased the track from the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority—the track’s owner.
The horsemen’s association has cut losses at the track from $12 million in 2011 to about $4 million in 2013, but Drazin said the track needs new sources of revenue to become profitable. Longer-term development ideas include a water-theme park, a hotel/casino, an IMAX theater and an ice-hockey rink/sports complex.
Oceanport officials advised Drazin to consult the borough’s planning board—which regulates new construction in the borough—on the proposals.
Although the property is owned by the state and does not need local approval for improvements, Drazin said the association wants to work closely with the borough.
