Either work together or risk both industries going under.
That’s the conclusion of a study by the Rutgers Equine Science Center, which documents continuing losses in the state’s horse-racing industry and calls for a partnership between the racing and casino industries in the state.
The report states that the Atlantic City casino industry—which is struggling in the face of competition from out-of-state casinos and racinos—and the horse racing industry “benefit or lose together due to the state’s overall competition for gambling dollars with other states.
“Survival of the tracks by permitting sports betting, other forms of betting on horse races, and adding casino gambling to the racetrack gaming portfolio is the correct thing to do from the perspective of the entire state—if it helps stop the bleeding of New Jersey gambling consumers who have been supporting venues out of state,” the study says. “This statewide benefit is especially likely to be realized for racetracks that are closer to the state boundary than Atlantic City.”
The report suggests the casino and pari-mutuel industries shouldn’t be competing against each other in New Jersey.
“There should exist a partnership between the casino and horse racing industries to enable both to remain sustainable, as competition for gambling dollars continues to escalate,” the study says. “This is no longer a discussion about competition between the horse racing and casino industries. It is about the competition between two similar, important New Jersey industries and the rest of the region
The study was authored by Dr. Karyn Malinowski, director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center, and Dr. Paul Gottlieb, chair of the Rutgers Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
The report also compares the New Jersey’s racing industry with those in Pennsylvania and New York. New Jersey trails both states in purses paid, number of racing days per year, and total pari-mutuel handle on thoroughbred racing.
