The following is a press release issued by the Meadowlands in response to an editorial written by Joe Faraldo as President of the SOANY. More comments from me after the press release.
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The Meadowlands Responds To Faraldo’s Editorial
While it is unfortunate that Mr. Faraldo has targeted The Meadowlands in another public outburst that would have been better left to a private discussion, due to the vast inaccuracies in his “editorial,” The Meadowlands Racetrack feels compelled to respond.
Yes, The Meadowlands Racetrack, like many other racetracks with larger-sized
pools has players that bet through a computer-assisted wagering system.
The notion that these players are a “cartel” is erroneous. Contrary to
Mr. Faraldo’s beliefs, The Meadowlands Racetrack has not been made any
guarantees from a wagering prospective by these players.
For full disclosure, prior to the start of our meet, The Meadowlands has
amended an existing simulcast agreement with one of our present customers which
would likely result in their increased wagering. We did this mainly to see if by their
added handle it would encourage others to wager into the larger pools. To
protect ourselves and our customers that if there was a problem, we
intentionally added a clause that would allow us to cancel the agreement on
three days-notice. Fortunately the results are better than expected. That increase has been nearly $7
Million, or 29-percent of our overall handle increase. However, there has
been additional 71 percent in increases from other sources, just as we had
hoped. Therefore, the idea that these bettors are creating “the illusion
of beneficial revenue” is false.
The simple truth is these players bet more than the average customer, thus
receive a larger rebate. This is a concept that has existed since the
opening of casinos in this country. A $1,000 per hand blackjack player is
going to receive a larger rebate than a $10 per hand player.
The allegation that New Jersey horsemen are not seeing “beneficial revenue” is
also false. By the end of this racing season, the S.B.O.A.N.J. will
receive additional revenue well into six-figures directly from these larger
players. The agreement was made with the full support of the S.B.O.A.N.J.
and it’s leader, Tom Luchento had this to say:
““The Meadowlands Racetrack and the SBOANJ have an
outstanding relationship. We support each other in everything we
do. The Meadowlands Racetrack is an industry leader in moving this sport
in the right direction and utilizing new ideas to make The Meadowlands
successful. The idea that the management at The Meadowlands and Jeff
Gural would ever do something that would harm the horsemen of New Jersey is
utterly ridiculous and offensive to both The Meadowlands and the horsemen of
New Jersey.”
Mr. Faraldo also questions the revenue earned by The Meadowlands on these
bettors in relation to the purse account. For full disclosure, The
Meadowlands has carried an overpayment into the purse account for 2013 of
nearly $300,000. Thanks to our game plan for 2013, we are on track to
wipe out that overpayment by years-end. It is impossible to raise purses
until it is proven that we will continue to have full fields since the
Pennsylvania tracks have opened and a total handle that continues to perform at
the same consistent level it has all year.
Furthermore, the allegation that The Meadowlands is misleading its investors and “playing them for more support” is both erroneous and defamatory. The Meadowlands Racetrack is in constant communication with our investors as they are given daily updates of how our business is doing. They have been extremely pleased with the progress we have made in 2013 at both The Meadowlands Racetrack and Winners Bayonne.
It comes as quite a shock that Mr. Faraldo would grow “tiresome” of reading
about The Meadowlands success. The national handle figures published on
the USTA website, show an increase of over $50 Million in industry-wide betting
handle in 2013. The Meadowlands Racetrack is responsible for 45 percent
of that increase. Thus, The Meadowlands is literally driving the industry
in the right direction. But rather than supporting The Meadowlands, since
the industry is clearly so dependent upon its success, he tries to tear it
down. This is one of the major problems within our industry today.
In his editorial, Mr. Faraldo touches upon the subject of integrity. With
all due respect, no racetrack in this sport has done more to promote integrity
than The Meadowlands. No person in this sport has done more to promote
integrity than Jeff Gural. When a trainer is suspended, The Meadowlands
does not allow that trainers horses to be raced under an “assistants” name for
the duration of that suspension. We believe our customers appreciate the
stand we have taken in this regard and it is reflected in our handle.
Additionally, Mr. Faraldo cites two examples that could represent the danger of
these larger players and the potential for pool manipulation. Let’s put
this to rest right now. Neither of his two examples have anything to do
with larger computer-assisted wagers. The individual that wagers $2,000
to win on multiple horses does so at a simulcast facility at a teller
window. Furthermore, the $2,000 win bets are never cancelled, so where is
the pool manipulation? The daily double made reference to was also
predominantly due to an individual who placed a large daily double wager at The
Meadowlands. After looking into the wager, there was nothing suspicious
or “manipulative” about the wager. Neither incident stemmed from large
computer bettors at all.
We apologize that this editorial required a public response and we hope to have
clarified the issues raised by Mr. Faraldo to our betting customers as they are
what matters the most to us. Lastly, if Mr. Faraldo took issue with a
business decision The Meadowlands Racetrack made, he should have contacted us
privately and professionally. Quite frankly, his concerns should focus on
the standardbred horsemen of New York and he should leave The Meadowlands to
us. After all, despite boasting large purses thanks to an approximate $50
Million casino-subsidized purse account, The Meadowlands consistently handles
five times more wagering dollars than Yonkers on Saturday night. This is
because large purses alone do not make for a great betting product.
However, the integrity-driven, quality racing that The Meadowlands presents does
make for that great betting product.
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Some may wonder why I am posting this press release in full while only providing a link to Mr. Faraldo's comments. To be perfectly honest, for reasons I outlined yesterday, I found Mr. Faraldo's editorial to be overstepping and full of unproved insinuations more characteristic of an attack letter. Being the Meadowlands was attacked, I felt they were entitled to this forum to respond.
Were Mr. Faraldo to have written an editorial questioning the wisdom of the practice of offering these types of bargains to large bettors and the potential impact on horsemen conceptually, there is a good chance I would have looked more favorably on it; in fact in my column yesterday, I explained why there is no problem with offering these discounts to provide liquidity to the mutuels market; similar to the way Wall Stree has market makers for every stock to ensure there is liquidity in the trading market.
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