No Slot Machines for Baseball Owners

The rules in baseball are very clear – no club owner can own or operate a slot machine casino. However, there do seem to be some ways around it. For example, the Detroit Tigers owner Michael Ilitch has many holdings in Detroit; all under the family’s various names. However, one of their holdings is a slot machine casino. Michael’s name is not on the casino, and his wife, Marian’s name is not on the baseball team. So although it seems a little sneaky, MLB has sanctioned it.

Steve Swindal and Bob Nutting are both involved in baseball and are looking to get into slot machines. Swindal is a managing general partner of the Yankees and Nutting is COB of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nutting bought the Seven Springs Mountain Resort in western PA earlier this year, and wanted to create a casino with 500 slot machines at a ski resort. However, he has decided not to continue with the idea since baseball and slot machines cannot mix. “We withdrew the application for slot machines because the rules in baseball are very clear,” Nutting said. “Rather than try to come up with a structure that maybe would have subverted the intent, we thought it was appropriate to respect the intent of the rule and withdrew.”

Swindal is a partner in Excelsior Racing Associates which has just gotten the recommendation to take over NY State’s racing franchise. This in itself is not a big deal, but the racetracks are viable slot machine locations. The Aqueduct is looking to bring in slot machines, as are Belmont and Saratoga. Aqueduct has 4,500 slot machines that are in but not running yet. Commissioner Bud Selig has been informed as to Swindal’s dealing with the racetracks and the slot machines.

Selig knew about the slot machines, and told Swindal to keep him informed as to what was going on, for if Excelsior wins the bid, there could be a problem.

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