Meadowlands Racetrack finds itself in turmoil
The Meadowlands Racetrack is in the middle of a tug of war between the state and real estate investor, Jeffrey R. Gural. The two parties are in midst of talks that aim to save the Meadowlands from being abandoned. However, nothing long term and permanent
has come up yet.
The Meadowlands is owned by the state of New Jersey and it traces its history back to 1976, the year in which it was opened. Presently, the race track is facing serious financial problems with bankruptcy looming on the horizon if appropriate steps are not
taken on time. In the worst case scenario, live racing would come to an end at the Meadowlands, which is the country’s leading harness racing track. This is inevitable in the event of no rescue plan surfacing.
Recently, there has been an agreement of a temporary nature between the horse owners and Governor Chris Christie, in the mean time, Gural and the state are working on a plan to convert the Meadowlands into a private enterprise.
Gural’s plan includes adding slot machines to the race track, something he was successfully able to do in New York with the Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs. Both the race tracks were facing bankruptcy and eminent demise, but Gural was able to bring them back
to life by introducing other forms gambling such as racino, keno, video poker, and video slot machines. Although there were doubts that live horse racing would be affected by these introductions, they were dispelled when both the Downs started thriving and
the spectatorship of live horse racing increased significantly.
According to Gural, the Meadowlands offers a much better location because the population of New Jersey is denser than that of New York. However, there is more competition, making the endeavor a tough job to do.
Tougher yet for Gural, is going to be the task of convincing the state government to agree to let the slot machines be added to the Meadowlands. At the moment however, that is not even a possibility for Christie.
"That certainly has not been part of our conversations," the governor said, referring to the ongoing discussions that have been taking place between himself and Gural.
Gural however, is not daunted by the state’s stance on the issue and is convinced that introducing other forms of gambling will be beneficial to the Meadowlands, as has happened in New York.
"It's very simple, we're trying to make it a fun experience rather than just a place to wager," Gural said. "We've developed a model that works up there and hopefully it will work down here."
There are those in the horse racing industry in New Jersey that support Gural and think that the added attractions that he advocates is the only solution that can work for the Meadowlands considering the rising costs of maintaining the tracks and increasingly
minimal revenues that come back home.
James Aaron, an ex board member of the New Jersey Racing Commission is one of them. While admitting that adding a casino to the Meadowlands is going to be difficult in terms of legislation and the number of years that it might take, he thinks that the racing
industry should give Gural the chance to try it out as the costs of managing the race tracks are getting out of control.
But everyone is not in favor of Gural. Joseph Faraldo, who is an attorney representing horsemen of Gural’s race tracks in New York says that Gural has personal interests involved in the whole enterprise.
Whatever the case may be, there is no other rescue plan in the picture for the Meadowlands other than Gural, and it does not seem to be working out well.
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