Meadowlands handle fails to top $3 million

[gh2009]

Handle was much more important to Meadowlands and other tracks before there were ADW's and OTB's because it was mainly live on track handle which they kept more of. These days Meadowlands on track handle is probably less than 10% of their overall handle, so on most days they're lucky if it's enough to cover purses for that night.

[Papillon]

my estimate is that M1 on track handle is less than $100k or 3% of the total handle at most

[gh2009]

Most people who go are there for the sportsbook.

[BigMFan]

Most people who go are there for the sportsbook.

Agree.  Was thinking 5% or less.  While I like the new building and especially the roof top bar (for late spring/summer) the setup is terrible to watch races and sports together. 

[wizardofoz]

Nice and clean new building and is fine.

[stanetelman]

Friday 1/10 handle
$3,068,924
2/3 reaching $3 million
$80,200 below break even point

Saturday 1/11 handle
$3,264,500
3/4 reaching $3 million
$184,300 above break even point

[stanetelman]

Unfortunately, operating without ancillary revenue from an alternate form of gaming and left to depend on money bet on the races as the main stream of revenue doesn’t pay the bills, jeopardizing the future of racing at the Meadowlands.
The revenue being generated by the sources available can not sustain purses at the current level, nor does it cover the cost of operations. That problem is compounded by the fact that handle on horse racing and in turn, the revenue derived from it, declines every year.  For the last four months, combined pari-mutuel handle is down $4.75M or 5%, with live being down $54K (2%), Import down $3.3M (12%) and Export down $1.4M (2%). 

[stanetelman]

Nice and clean new building and is fine. 

Meadowlands President Jeff Gural spoke about losing money, “Even though we spent over $100 million to build a beautiful new facility which caters to owners, it has not resulted in drawing people, even horse people, to come to the track."

“The truth is harness racing only exists in NJ because I continue to underwrite the losses in the hope of getting a casino and making my investment pay off but I'm  not getting any younger and our customers are continuing to die off which weakens our case each year."
 

[bello]

Stop the whining and fucking close the doors already or let Elite buy it. They control the track anyways. Let them bet against any suckers that remain to play against them while they continue to game the system. The suckers will die or go broke. In reality there is no reason to keep this place open. Jeff went to the "Crossroads" with Elite. Like most deals with the devil. it will not look good in the end.

[pocketrocketwinner]

They will never realize that catering to owners (as oppossed to gamblers) was and is a disastrous strategy. 

[Any1Left]

The elite turf club makes up a huge % of that 3mm. After the pools close

Correct,,,,,,,,,,,,wEG and the bigm have being bull shi  ing  us for a long time with handle as its not real but the handle shows interest from a huge betting public and gets them welfare money they do not deserve,,,,,,,,

[stanetelman]

Friday 1/17 handle
$2,578,824
3 out of 5 cards handling over $3 million
$23
6,876 below break even point

[gh2009]

Don't worry, spin doctor Jason Settlemoir will still brag how Meadowlands handles more money at night than any other track in the country, but he won't tell you they're losing money on racing.

[Papillon]

Handle was much more important to Meadowlands and other tracks before there were ADW's and OTB's because it was mainly live on track handle which they kept more of. These days Meadowlands on track handle is probably less than 10% of their overall handle, so on most days they're lucky if it's enough to cover purses for that night.

live handle is less than 3% of the total handle

[Dingus]

Don’t worry, boys.  I spoke to Mr Gurel last night in Trotters, and he is pretty sure he’ll be getting a casino within 2 years.