Ohio HBPA Position Regarding Advanced Deposit Wagering Companies
In April the Ohio HBPA informed each of the thoroughbred tracks in Ohio of the terms under which we would approve the sending of any of our signals to Advanced Deposit Wagering companies (ADW's) which accept interstate wagers.
Effective May 1, 2008 the Ohio HBPA will authorize the sending of our signals to ADW's after any ADW company agrees to a licensing agreement with the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Group (THG) under terms which are agreed to by the Ohio HBPA's Board of Directors.
As of May 1, none of the major ADW companies had agreed to a licensing agreement with the THG for any of the three thoroughbred tracks in Ohio. Therefore, neither the River Downs or Thistledown signals are currently (May 23) available for wagering at any of the major ADW sites (TVG, Xpressbet,Youbet and twinspires.com).
"While we regret the inconvience that this action causes our customers, the Ohio HBPA feels strongly that it is vital for horsemen to receive a fair share of every dollar wagered on all of our races in order for thoroughbred racing to survive and prosper in Ohio. This is currently not the case with ADW's, which is the quickest growing segment in the industry," said Dave Basler, executive director of the Ohio HBPA.
"We have tried for over a year to renegotiate terms with the major ADW's without success," said Basler. "Seeing no progress was being made in this effort, the Board felt stronger action needed to be taken in order to try to expedite the process".
Wagers made through ADW's on Ohio races return an average of just over 2% per dollar wagered compared with an average of nearly 8% if the same wagers were placed at the track where the race was run.
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