Only Raceway and Northfield pay initial Ohio slot fee

According to Wednesday’s Columbus Post Dispatch, all seven racetracks in Ohio filed applications and paid a nonrefundable $100,000 filing fee by Tuesday’s deadline to add slot machines, but only two—Northfield Park and Raceway Park—met the deadline to pay the first $13 million in license fees. An attorney for the tracks told the newspaper that the other tracks still intend to make their initial payments toward a $65 million license fee.

 

The five tracks that did not pay the $13 million—Scioto Downs, Lebanon Raceway, Beulah Park, Thistledown and River Downs—could face a penalty of $100,000 per day, but that could be modified after a review by the Ohio Lottery Commission into the circumstances involved.

 

Ohio. Gov. Ted Strickland earlier this year signed an Executive Order that allows the tracks to introduce slot machines. However, three separate lawsuits challenging the plan have since been filed. There is also a proposal to allow four casinos in the state that is on the November ballot. According to a recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, 58 percent of Ohio residents approve that proposal, while 37 percent oppose and five percent are undecided.

 

On Tuesday a federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Thistledown Thoroughbred racetrack to Harrah’s for a reported $89.5 million. Harrah’s agreed to apply for the slots license but in a release stated it had “no obligation” to pay any additional monies until the deal closes.