MA House Passes Suffolk Simulcast Extension

Blood-Horse

With time running out for Suffolk Downs to continue offering full-card simulcasts, the Massachusetts House of Representatives March 26 passed a bill that extends the current rights for one more month.

The action was the second extension for the racetrack since the end of last year, and allows for simulcasts to continue through April 30. The bill now moves to the Senate for action.

After the 80-year-old track’s ownership group announced last September it would not apply for 2015 live racing dates in the wake of gaming partner Mohegan Sun being bypassed for the lone Boston-area resort casino license, Suffolk Downs’ simulcast rights were set to expire Dec. 31. A bill was passed in the waning days of the legislative session to give the track the rights for another three months; they were set to expire March 31.

Earlier in March favorable legislation that would allow the track to simulcast through July 31, 2016, was passed as part of a $350 million Massachusetts supplemental budget bill, but it has been reportedly sidelined by differences among legislative leaders on non-racing matters.

The latest extension gives lawmakers more time to work on passage of the budget bill, which also paves the way for live racing to return in 2015 and 2016 while preserving jobs as track owners move forward with development plans for the property.

In late February, Suffolk Downs management reached a two-year deal with the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association so that the horsemen could lease the track and operate the live meets of from one day to 50 days each.

The supplemental budget bill would allow the horsemen to tap into a portion of the simulcast and live racing revenue to cover a portion of the operating and administrative costs of running the meet. Without that provision, the horsemen cannot cover expenses.

The House and Senate versions of the bill were sent to a conference committee for further action March 26. Even should the bill pass, the horsemen still need the approval of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to hold a racing license and operate a live meet.

In the interim, any plans for the number of live racing days and the purse structure at Suffolk Downs in 2015 remain very much in flux.