Dog, Horse Racing Tracks in Kansas Prove Bad Bets

One out, one down and a third headed for trouble.

That’s the status of greyhound and horse racing tracks in Kansas, a domino-like fall that isn’t unique to the state.

Racetracks, which until recently were among the few gambling operations outside Nevada and New Jersey, are having trouble competing with state lotteries and Las Vegas-style casinos on riverboats and in Native American tribal areas.

After years of having much of the gambling market to themselves, track officials are bewildered by the stiffer competition, said Jeff Ewalt, projects coordinator for the Assn. of Racing Commissioners International in Lexington, Ky.

“They had the only game in town,” he said. “Now suddenly they are being slapped around a lot.”

In the last three years, eight of the nation’s dog tracks have folded, said Stan Flint, managing coordinator for the American Greyhound Track Operators Assn. in North Miami, Fla. Fifty tracks sponsoring greyhound racing or a combination of dog and horse racing remain.

The vast majority of tracks, he said, are competing with the upstarts in the gambling world, riverboat casinos and games of chance operated by Native American tribes.

In Kansas, the last of the state’s racetracks to open--Camptown Racetrack in Frontenac--was the first to fold. It began greyhound racing in May 1995, then closed less than seven months later after reporting losses of $250,000 a month.

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The Woodlands horse and dog racing complex in Kansas City, Kan., just minutes away from several riverboat casinos in Kansas City, Mo., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May.

The track’s attendance and cash flow are the same as a year ago, said Derrick Reicheneker, director of public affairs and marketing at the Woodlands. But both, he said, are down about 50% from the days before riverboat gambling opened nearby.

Bankruptcy protection will keep creditors away until next June, when, he said, “you are back to a crisis.”

Adding to the state’s racetrack woes, Wichita Greyhound Park, the third major racetrack, is expecting its first loss in the seven years it has been open.

Competition from the state lottery system along with Native American casinos in northeast Kansas and riverboat gambling in northwest Missouri are taking a toll, said Roy Berger, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Wichita Greyhound Park.

Attendance this year is off 22% from last year. The track’s handle, or the amount bet, has fallen 15% since last year. Officials project an overall loss of $500,000 or more this year.

Track officials recently won permission from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to expand their simulcasting so that bettors in Wichita can wager on races elsewhere in the country. Officials hope that will boost operations.

Even though riverboat and Native American casinos are about a three-hour drive from Wichita, Berger said, gamblers are willing to make the long trip, drawing customers away from the track.

To try to compete with the new casinos, track officials want the Kansas Legislature to permit slot machines at the tracks. Legislators have repeatedly refused to do so, but track officials plan to press their case again when the legislative session begins in early January.

The tracks doing well in the new, more competitive market are those that have been allowed to add casino-style gambling, said Flint of the greyhound track association.

“The bottom line is that when parimutuel [horse and dog] racing started in Kansas in 1989, it was just us and the lottery,” Berger said.

“If anyone had known what we do now, there would not have been one dime put into parimutuel racing in Kansas,” he added.