Fairmount Park would certainly like to have more Otb's. Currently the state law restricts a racetrack from having a location farther from 160 miles from the track. So they are shut out from Chicago area. They are looking at several locations in Southern Illinois. There is an amendment bill filed in the Senate to eliminate the mileage restriction, but it is so difficult to get anything passed in the Illinois legislature.
The tracks make a profit from the off track locations and more than anything you get about 7% of the handle that goes into purses, so better purses means better horses which improves the product for the track. It's basically the only thing keeping Hawthorne in business.
How the Illinois Racing Board allows them to continue when they can't even pay their bills for the live feed shows the total dysfuntion that the Board has become.
