Mahoning Valley Downs & Resort, to be or not to be?
In the Ohio horse racing industry, the hot question these days is ‘to build or not to build’ a racino (racetrack and casino) in the region. The Ohio Racing Commission is denying any collaboration with Rick Lertzman and Dr. Bradford Pressman, the two developers
who have proposed the racino idea. However, Lertzman and Pressman remain confident that they will be given the license to develop the Mahoning Valley Downs & Resort.
Amidst all this confusion, there are a lot of aspects to the issue that need to be considered, in order to determine whether such a racino would have a beneficial or detrimental effect in Ohio.
First and foremost is the question of funding the gigantic investment of $300 million. A lot of eyebrows have been raised over the suggestion that a part of this amount would be taken from the taxpayers. However, this issue has ceased to be a concern of
late, since two of the partners in the Mahoning Valley Development Group Lertzman and Pressmen, have not made any demands of the taxpayers of Mahoning Valley. All they intend to do is to get a license to operate a racetrack in Ohio.
This is a tough job in itself as Ohio Racing Commission has not issued a license to operate a race track in the last 50 years. Lertzman and Pressman are looking towards the elected representatives of Mahoning Valley to help extract a license out of the commission
by using their influence. Both the developers see no reason for the license being rejected, as they have the required amount of funding from reliable sources.
Lertzman and Pressman have both made it public that developing the race track and resort is a financially feasible option, as most of the funding is being done by three national companies, all of which are conducting their businesses under the blessings
of the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, they deemed it improper to disclose their identity, because Lertzman and Pressman feel it is up to the discretion of the companies involved.
The involvement of these secret investors makes the Ohio racino issue most intriguing. Ohio state is already supporting seven horse racing tracks, which is a reasonable number for almost any state. Therefore, an eighth race track would theoretically find
it difficult to attract a sufficient crowd. The more important question is why anyone would be interested in investing such a huge amount of money in an industry which is experiencing a good share of economic instability?
Apart from the race tracks in the region, Ohio State is also dotted with several casinos. Other than that, there are plans of building casinos in Cleveland as well. This factor will also have a significant effect on the revenue generating capabilities of
Mahoning Valley Downs & Resort. Unless the racino offers something exceptionally unique to its target market, it will have a tough time capturing it.
However, Lertzman and Pressman do not seem to be too concerned about these issues. They confessed to have secured options on 200 acres of land in Mahoning Valley and plan to add another 200 acres to their acquisition. The location of the land is another
secret of the Ohio horse racing industry, which is kept unknown because the two partners fear an artificial rise in the price of the land.
In order to give authenticity to their license application, Lertzman and Pressman are expecting the people of Mahoning Valley to support the case for building the Mahoning Valley Downs & Resort. However, both men cannot truly expect the public to support
the cause, when the details of the project are alien to them.
Lertzman and Pressman would be in a better position to get their application approved if they make public the identities of the investors behind the $300 million project.
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