The Louisiana legislature recently passed a bill to bring fixed-odds racing to its tracks, with the governor’s signature being the only remaining obstacle until it becomes law in the Pelican State.
Bringing Horse Racing Into the New Millennium
The moment a sports bettor makes a wager, that point spread or those odds are locked. The bettor knows exactly how much their wager will make them if it is a winner, and there isn’t much to do besides root for the team or the player to do what was expected.
However, parimutuel horse racing is decidedly different, as the bettor sees current odds on the board but won’t know the final odds until the race is run. The wagers go in a collective pool, with the horse track taking out their percentage and then assigning odds once betting has closed. This has led to some confusion among those familiar with sports betting but uninitiated with parimutuel wagering.
Many horse racing industry analysts believe that parimutuel betting has seen its best days and want to adapt to the more familiar fixed-odds prices found in sports wagering. The Louisiana legislature agrees with this departure from the norm to attract a new and much more demographically attractive audience.
State Representative Chad Boyer sponsored the fixed-odds bill, HB 547, and it has passed overwhelmingly in the Senate (36-1) and the House (98-0), which signals a sea change in how horse racing will be priced in the future. However, Governor Jeff Landry’s signature awaits, and as of this writing, he has not yet signed the bill.
“Fixed-odds betting is already gaining traction in other states and allows a wager to be locked in at the posted odds, much like sports betting,” said Republican Representative Boyer, the bill’s sponsor, during a committee meeting last month. “By adopting this model, we not only offer a more competitive product to racing fans, but we also create a new revenue stream that will directly support our local racing associations through a dedicated purse supplemental fund.”
Racing Advocate
Former NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme, who went undrafted by the New Orleans Saints in 1997, comes from a family of thoroughbred trainers and breeders and testified on behalf of the new legislation late last month.
“We’re just trying to get our product – because we have an unbelievable product – on a national stage,” Delhomme said last month. “It’s not an expansion of gaming; it’s just joining in on what’s going on throughout the United States and to get our product to where we can generate more revenue to come back to the state.”
The bill will also create the “Fixed Odds Horse Wagering Purse Supplement Fund,” where 5% of the net proceeds from fixed-odds wagering will be earmarked for breeding efforts and prize money.
Churchill Downs Says No
Although support for the bill is at an all-time high, it is not universal, and one such company believes it will negatively impact their track, The Fair Grounds. Churchill Downs has threatened to surrender its Fair Grounds racing license and its licenses to offer slots and video poker.
Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen recently submitted a letter to the Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) that stated, “Closing one of the nation’s oldest racetracks, and the most important track in Louisiana, will be a devastating blow to Louisiana’s equine industry and the New Orleans economy. It will also have an immediate detrimental impact on the livelihoods of the hundreds of employees, local vendors, and the community surrounding the Fair Grounds. However, the inaction of the legislature and others in a position to save this racetrack have forced us into the current situation.”
Whether this has any bearing on whether the governor will ultimately sign the bill remains unknown at this time.
