Once everyone gets slots, the gig is up for those who have them and any advantages they had go away. It keeps more people in the racing (employees and horses that is), but the playing field will be more leveled.
I can't fault any jurisdiction for pursuing the slots at their own place, and any help you can get - so be it. Slots are not a savior, but a temporary inflation adjustment that has been long missed in many places.
Slots are welfare for horse racing.
That being said, I fully supported the initiative to get them in PA - even wrote my undergrad senior thesis on the feasibility of slot machines at PA racetracks (nice way to get to do "research" at the track while in college).
Once everyone gets some, those who had it from the beginning start craving more.
The slots era in racing should be viewed as such...
Let's find a way to help insert more money into the sport and that will get the state government to go along with it...ok, great...we've put ourselves on the IV-drip of slots money. Now - we SHOULD be going out and doing everything we can to improve racing for the long-term (find ways to increase wagering, uniform guidelines, improved marketing, making the track a great place to be, increasing fans, etc).
Slots are stimulus packages for the sport...once everyone has them, the stimulus won't feel like one any longer. Now is the time to innovate and change...
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