Update
This morning I made the trip up to Phoenix to meet with the Interim Executive Director of the Arizona Horsemen's Benevolent Protection Agency, Tom Metzen, and with Eugene Joyce, General Manage of Turf Paradise. I walked away from the meeting with as much confusion and more frustration as I entered.
Presentation------------------------------------------------------------
To begin, I copied the
Jon Forbes article from The Bloodhorse, and explained that regardless if these men were interested or not the rest of the industry is listening to members of the online forums, which didn't seem interest either of them. I then presented each with the list of 95 members of DerbyTrail.com and PaceAdvantage.com that have shown displeasure with the new law. After I tried to explain on somewhat deaf ears how many people across the country are unhappy with Arizona racing, I showed them 5 pages of comments left by everyone on the forums, pointing out how many were totally through with Arizona racing. Finally I showed them the front page of
http://www.boycott-az-racing.com/, which got a bit of a laugh.
Discussion--------------------------------------------------------------
This entire law boils down to Source Market Fees, and the belief that the tracks in Phoenix and Prescott Valley should receive money on any and all wagers placed from the state, regarless of the track (such as Belmont) or location of the bettor (Douglas or St. Johns, for example). This is a very debatable topic, and one that I am not going to pursue. But the fact is millions of dollars are sitting in escrow accounts to be paid to Source Market Fees, but the current plan worked out by the horsemen of Arizona will not take the money.
I was quite irritated by the stance that ADW's contribute "nothing to live racing", and had to point out that money is comingled to the pools in the state, as well as license fees (according to one ADW), so money is pouring into live racing in the state. Both wanted to argue with me on this but were unable to, and both tried the stance that people were betting over the phone on Arizona races, which is total BS. If you were an Arizona resident, you couldn't place a bet through an ADW on Arizona races, and I have a difficult time seeing someone coming from out of the state to Yavapai Downs. Again, it comes back to Source Market Fees that would be gladly paid by the ADW's if the tracks would accept it.
I discussed the fact that OTB's in the state basically suck. If you want a very limited number of races from certain tracks, such as races 1-3 at Belmont or Races 3-6 at Santa Anita, then the OTB's in the state, especially in Southern Arizona, are fine, but who can handicap a card not being sure what is going to be covered that day. The product that the tracks provide is suboptimal, which is one reason that so many horseplayers were forced to bet online.
The three of us discussed the Indian situation in the state, and that under the current political leadership, nothing is likely to change anytime soon, meaning that this bill will only be overturned by the courts and not counter legislation.
Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------
To be honest, I actually believe Mr. Joyce in that Turf Paradise wants ADW's in the state, and that in order to get a clear judgement on ADW's in the state a stiff law such as that had to be passed. I honestly believe that they hope the law is challenged in court and is shown to be unlawful, so that ADW's can reopen to the state.
I have a belief that the horseplayers will be included in future drives to change legislation in the state, which has obviously not be case in the past. I have the feeling that Mr. Joyce is on the side of the horseplayers in the end.
As for Mr. Metzen of the Arizona HBPA, I honestly felt I was wasting his time. He didn't seem to care one bit about what the horseplayers felt about this, and didn't seem to care of the impact that online horseplayers make on the game. From the moment that this meeting was scheduled, he seemed to be only be paying lip service to me and all of us I tried to represent.
Comments--------------------------------------------------------------
I am now up to comments on the meeting, and the suspected outcome of this meeting. Does anyone actually feel that anything will come of this, because I honestly do not. I hope that isn't the case, but what do you think?
I appreciate everyone's comments and support in this, and hopefully our voice will be heard in the end. Too often the one group that honestly supports racing is screwed, and that is the bettors.