Horse Racing In New Jersey Going Private
New Jersey is reforming the way they treat casinos, horse racing and the most of the Meadowlands. The first step in this major overhaul proposal by the government in New Jersey will be to sell its ownership in horse racing venues to private businesses and become just a land owner. If buyers can’t be found, the race tracks will be shut down.
Trainers and caretakers at New Jersey’s Meadowlands and Monmouth Park racetracks reacted with a mixture of anger and resignation today to the news that Gov. Chris Christie plans to propose privatizing the horse racing industry.
The proposal could result in the sale or shutdown of the parks.
There is no allowance for VLT’s to make the race tracks into racinos like other surrounding states. The government must think that that there is no saving the racetracks.
I’m not very into horse racing, but from what I’ve seen in NY and NJ this seems to be a dying industry. It’s not much of a surprise to see the state run away from this challenge.
My only question is whether or not anyone could be remotely interested in buying some, or all, of New Jersey’s racing assets. I don’t see how this can be a wise acquisition unless the buyer can get assurance that they will be allowed to add slot machines.
This is still just a proposal, so I’m curious to see what actually happens.
