Raceway Park Excited 

Raceway Park is excited, because they are only one of two horse racing tracks in the state to get in their paperwork for a slot machine license at their track. The deadline was yesterday for any track that was interested in bringing in slot machines. Those tracks that were interested in a slot machine license needed to pay a $13 million installment for the slot machines, in addition to the $100,000 fee that they had already paid. According to the Ohio Lottery Commission only Raceway and Northfield Park made the deadline. 

The licensing fee is $65 million bill with the $13 million being the first installment. Any track that wishes to have slot machines needed to have that payment in by yesterday, or they would be looking at a $100,000 per day late fee on top of the other fees they already owed. Lottery director Kathleen Burke has the option of modifying late fees after an initial payment, but it remains to be seen whether or not that will happen. 

Gov. Ted Strickland is trying to bring in 2500 slot machines at each racetrack across the state. His hope is that by bringing in this many slot machines, they will be able to generate more than $930 million over the next two years for the state budget. The plan is not without its detractors, however. 

With so many lawsuits currently pending against the state to try and stop the slot machines from coming in, it could be difficult for the tracks to get that kind of money. Experts say that there could be problems with getting lenders to give money to something that might not happen, or could be caught up in legislation for years.

Back to Monthly Archive // Main Slot Machine News Index