As Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf tries to divert slot revenues normally devoted to the racing industry, the state’s Gaming Control Board has released a report showing handle at the state’s six harness and thoroughbred tracks was down by 10.8 percent.
According to a report by The Center Square, taxable handle has dropped every year since at least 2009. The PGCB report notes that 89 percent of the purse money for the tracks comes from slot machine revenue, under the original 2004 gaming law, which, ironically, was titled the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act.
Adding to the woes of the state’s horsemen, the gaming board report reflects business in 2019, before the Covid-19 crisis shut down tracks along with other businesses for more than two months.
“We will not be running any open stakes races this year,” Parx Director of Racing David Osojnak told the publication. “We will be going on hiatus. The virus, the plague, just wiped out everything. We think we will be able to come back stronger in 2021.”
