The Valley goes Hollywood as new racino opens this week

By ROBERT CONNELLY

rconnelly@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

A peak inside Hollywood Gaming

Gallery

Inside Hollywood Gaming

Video Set

Red carpet, movie posters and illuminated video lottery terminals await those willing to try their luck as Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course nears its Wednesday opening.

The return of a legal all-in-one gambling mecca has been the stuff of dreams since February 2011 during the failed Youngstown-Austintown Joint Economic Development District talks.

It became reality once ground was broken last May.

Now that the facility is here and opening, would-be gamers can look back to June 14, 2012, when Penn National Gaming announced at an Austintown Township Board of Trustees meeting that it would open the then-named Hollywood Slots at Mahoning Valley Race Course.

Most of the numbers announced then have held true: Penn National spent $250 million on the project.

The announced opening of early 2014 was met with delays,

first with the Ohio Racing Commission transfer of Penn National’s permit for racing at Columbus-based Beulah Park to the Austintown facility. Then there were snags over the number of horse stalls, settled with the Ohio Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association at 988 in 13 barns.

Penn National also had originally planned for 1,500 VLTs but reduced that to 850 that dot the gaming floor today. These machines vary from a penny to $100 per play.

MEDIA TOUR

During a media tour Wednesday, Mike Galle, general manager and vice president of Hollywood Gaming, was asked whether the VLTs will be loose — paying out more — during the opening of the facility.

“They’re all different ranges ... it’s all over the place. We will again post our numbers from the Ohio Lottery Commission so you can watch what our pricing level is. Believe me, we are going to be competitive within the region and the state,” Galle said.

There are two outdoor smoking decks at the racino, one on the first floor by the H Lounge that will have 25 VLTs on it. The second is a deck that overlooks the 1-mile thoroughbred track, near the grandstand viewing area and simulcast auditorium.

Penn National has said it will draw from a 30-mile radius of 500,000 residents who are gaming age, 21 and up. Jay Snowden, Penn National chief operating officer, told The Vindicator on Aug. 28: “That’s going to be 85 percent of our business.”

Snowden also said Penn National projects Hollywood Mahoning Valley to generate between $9 million and

$11 million annually, similar to revenue levels at racinos in Miami, Columbus, and Cleveland. A Hollywood Gaming fact sheet estimates annual attendance of 1 million.

HORSE RACING

Though live racing does not begin until Nov. 24, a

simulcast auditorium near the grandstand has seating for about 30 bettors to have their sheets ready Wednesday for races from across the country.

Recently, the horse-stall application was finalized and will be available online shortly, said Mark Loewe, vice president of Ohio racing operations with Penn National. Those will be due by Sept. 30 or Oct. 1 and because of an agreement between Penn National and the Ohio Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, 80 percent of the stalls will be occupied by horses that have run consistently in Ohio over the years.

Tim Hamm, president of OHBPA and a local horse owner, said he expects Hollywood Gaming to follow Cleveland’s Thistledown Racino blueprint, where purses for horse racing tripled in its second year.

“By next year when [racing] opens up, it will be really rolling because they will have a full year under their belt,” Hamm said.

By October, a “condition book” will be released by Hollywood Gaming. It will detail what races will be on what days, and types of restrictions or limits for each race. For example, the first race of a specific day could feature only Ohio-bred horses that are 4 years old. The book also details the amount of purses for each race.

The condition book is set for a period of time, before the next one replaces it for future races. It allows owners and trainers to decide when and if they want their horses to run at the Austintown track.

FACILITY SAFETY

Austintown Fire Chief Andy Frost III said that due to regulations, a fire vehicle will follow the last horse in every race by an eighth-of-a-mile.

“We’re actually looking at possibly doing it with an SUV [sport utility vehicle] with the staff on board with the medical equipment in there,” Frost explained. “Most places do run it with the ambulance, but because we’re going to have a winter racing season, we’re going to have to do things a little differently.”

Frost also said that Austintown fire officials have signed off on the casino portion of Hollywood Gaming’s occupancy permit, and it just needs its paperwork finalized.

Before the horses arrive for live racing beginning Nov. 24, walk-throughs and checks by Austintown fire officials will be done before the occupancy permit for the horse facilities would be granted.

After a media tour through Hollywood Gaming last week, authorities from the state and township walked through the building in training for an active-shooter situation, Austintown Police Chief Robert Gavalier said.

All that awaits are the gamblers.

During a meeting with The Vindicator on Aug. 28, Eric Schippers, Penn National senior vice president of public affairs, addressed the reduction in the amount of VLTs at the racino from 1,500 to 850, and the negotiations over the number of spectator seats and horse stalls.

“We designed this facility to recognize the amount of people who are going to come,” Schippers said.

“We actually hope we’re wrong and they’re right,” he added — signaling optimism about future growth.