Fixed-odds betting on horse races could be a major source of revenue tracks are currently missing, according to members of a panel at last week’s Racing and Gaming Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Fixed-odds betting, a form of wagering against odds offered by a bookmaker or betting exchange on racing or sports events, has been a money-maker in many racing markets worldwide, but so far New Jerseys’ Monmouth Park is the only U.S. track to offer it since the U.S. Supreme Court repealed the federal ban on sports betting in 2018.
“Racing is leaving so much on the table at the moment,” said Dallas Baker, vice president of Monmouth fixed-odds operator BetMakers U.S., at the panel. Paul Hannon, senior vice president of corporate development for PointsBet USA, added, “There is a space for it in the mainstream, especially in the summer months, where it’s really only up against baseball, golf, and tennis,” Hannon said. “We have a really strong appetite to make sure racing has that position.”
Hannon noted that because fixed odds wagering always returns overall outcomes in favor of the operator, it is a safe way to allow racing wagers. “We have a million different priorities we want to tackle, so making sure racing is investable, making sure there’s a guaranteed return on that investment, that’s very important for planning purposes, especially in the long term,” Hannon said.
David O’Rourke, the chief executive officer of the New York Racing Association (NYRA), commented on the panel that he remains optimistic about eventually offering fixed odds on NYRA’s races, but noted that the larger immediate priority I to get parimutuel account-wagering on the platforms of existing sportsbooks.
“Obviously we believe our product is going to perform well,” O’Rourke said. “We’re excited about it. It’s the biggest opportunity for racing, probably, in the last few decades.”
He added that more research on the topic is required.
“Until we introduce the product to the store, we don’t really know what the customer’s reaction is going to be,” O’Rourke said. “And these distributors are excellent at this. Once the product is there and we’re pushing it, those distributors are going to figure out exactly what the right formula is for those costumers. And us as content producers need to work with those distributors on what the right equation is.”
