Maryland Racing Future: Preakness Moving to Laurel Park in 2026
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - And as we close out, news on the state.
00:05 I guess the biggest question here is not the fact
00:08 that the Preakness Stakes will looks like
00:10 it will continue in Maryland.
00:12 I guess the question for you, Jim,
00:13 is do you see it continuing at Pimlico or somewhere else?
00:17 I know when we talked earlier in the week,
00:19 somewhere else seemed to be the predominant theme here.
00:22 Is that still the case?
00:24 - Yeah, so the Preakness will be held at Laurel Park,
00:28 also in Maryland, just one year in 2026.
00:32 And I spoke to some people that were involved
00:35 in the writing of the legislation
00:38 around the future of Maryland racing
00:41 and redeveloping Pimlico,
00:44 kind of tearing it down and rebuilding it.
00:47 And I picked up on some interesting themes
00:50 from this conversation.
00:51 One was that in the past,
00:54 the horse racing industry in Maryland
00:57 has kind of missed or passed on the opportunity
01:02 to get their hands on some expanded gambling options
01:08 when they legalized slot machines in Maryland back in 2012.
01:12 The company that owned Pimlico and Laurel Park,
01:16 they didn't submit an application.
01:18 They didn't want it.
01:19 And then, a bunch of sort of fiscal and financial issues
01:24 started to arise when these properties
01:27 started to be in need of a facelift and some repairs.
01:32 They also had the opportunity
01:34 to put a brick and mortar retail sports book
01:38 at one of their properties.
01:39 And they declined to do that,
01:41 saying that the million dollar licensing fee
01:45 was a bit too steep,
01:46 given that the vast, vast majority,
01:49 like we see everywhere else in sports betting revenue
01:53 is coming from online sources.
01:56 Part of the legislation that was just passed
01:58 on Monday evening eliminates
02:03 that one million dollar licensing fee
02:06 for a retail sports book at Pimlico
02:10 during this redevelopment process.
02:12 Now, they didn't tell me specifically
02:14 that they will be building one in there,
02:17 but they did tell me that it becomes a bit more palatable now
02:21 to build that retail sports book
02:25 into the construction plans without the million dollar,
02:29 that added million dollar cost of the license.
02:33 Now, the state is forking over about $400 million in bonds
02:37 to help redevelop Pimlico.
02:40 So, I would suspect,
02:43 I would venture a pretty strong guess
02:45 that it'll be strongly considered
02:48 adding a retail sports book at Pimlico.
02:50 One other interesting thing that they told me too
02:52 is the available seating,
02:55 the seats is only gonna be a couple of thousand.
02:58 And it's a similar theme
03:01 with the Belmont Park redevelopment plan
03:03 that's going on in New York right now.
03:05 They're tearing down a massive, massive clubhouse
03:09 in Grandstand that had seating for over 80,000 people,
03:13 and they're reducing it to about seven to 10,000 people.
03:17 So, like we've seen in sports betting, Craig,
03:22 everything is happening online.
03:24 You're at a game, right?
03:26 A lot of these stadiums now have sports books
03:29 or sort of sports betting lounges
03:31 where most of the people are likely betting on their phones.
03:35 The same thing happens at racetracks.
03:38 I was at the track in New York City on Saturday,
03:41 and there's plenty of terminals to go and place your bet,
03:44 but I'm sitting there placing the bet on my phone
03:47 because it's more convenient.
03:49 So, a lot of these horse betting facilities
03:52 that are getting government funding to be redeveloped,
03:57 they're focused on that redevelopment
04:01 with the eyes towards a lot of this stuff
04:03 is happening online.
04:04 We don't need these massive facilities anymore.
04:07 They're turning more into sort of entertainment venues
04:12 rather than gambling venues,
04:16 and that is certainly turning up in the blueprints
04:19 and the construction plans for these facilities.
04:22 (upbeat music)
04:25 [MUSIC]