Slots are not just a quick fix, they are part of a changed environment. Racing is a gambling venture and as such needs to retain as much of the gambling market as possible. If you are not allowed to compete with casinos then eventually they will completely erode your share of the market. It is the same theory that made McDonalds stop selling only hamburgers and start promoting a wide variety of food. Sure hamburgers are still the main business but they are capturing the market share of other diners that they would not be if they didn't offer an expanded menu. If we (racing) just try to sell hamburgers we will lose.
Racetracks as usual have dropped the ball on this until recently but to ignore the billions of slot money that's available and try to say that better racing will make things all better is taking a narrow view of the reality of todays gambling market.
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