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Some simulcast wagering terminated at racino
By Kalea Hall
AUSTINTOWN
Bettors at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course are officially unable to wager on some simulcast races because of an impasse on a contract with a content provider.
MidAtlantic Cooperative LLC, a purchasing cooperative that represents 23 racetracks, including the Austintown racino, and Monarch Content Management Co. could not reach an agreement after entering into negotiations in late September.
“We have been and will continue to try to resolve this impasse, but given the pressures generated by current business trends these increases for content are not sustainable,” Phil O’Hara, executive director of MidAtlantic, said in a news release Monday.
On Monday, wagering at MidAtlantic member tracks on any Monarch represented racetrack was terminated. Simulcast betting is when a track’s live races are broadcast to gaming facilities throughout the country and the world for bettors. Money bet through simulcast wagering impacts the handle, which is the listing of all the bets wagered at tracks and through off-track wagering.
Monarch “sells horse racing content from its stable of racetracks to a variety of wagering outlets around the world,” according to its website. The company is owned by Stronach Group — a large horse racetrack operator and supplier of pari-mutuel wagering technology.
Some of Stronach’s parks include Santa Anita Park, Pimlico Race Course and Gulfstream Park.
Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for Penn National Inc. — the company that operates the Austintown racino — said this will affect the incoming signal for simulcast from Santa Anita, Del Mar, Gulfstream, Pimlico, Laurel Park, Lone Star Park, Golden Gate Fields, Los Alamitos, Portland Meadows, the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park.
“I don’t think we know at this point the impact on our simulcast racing business,” Tenenbaum said. “It does not affect our outgoing simulcast signal in anyway.”
MidAtlantic said five racetracks in Ohio will be affected: Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway; Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course; Thistledown Racino; Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park and Belterra Park.
Monarch’s proposal in mid-October included “unprecedented rate increases,” and was not accepted by MidAtlantic, according to a release issued by MidAtlantic.
On Oct. 30, MidAtlantic submitted a counterproposal with Monarch’s premium-rate signals with “reasonable market-based increases,” but that was rejected by Monarch.
Monarch could not be reached for comment late Monday.