When States Hire Task Force to Investigate Legislative Bills on Gaming. Who always wins out?
I could not believe what I was reading about today in BloodHorse.
On Nov. 23, 2010 an Article was published. The Title:
Legislation Moves Forward in New Jersey
Legislation geared toward horse racing,
Internet betting, and Atlantic City casinos moved closer to reality in New Jersey Nov. 22 as lawmakers voted to create big changes in the way people can gamble.
The state Senate approved measures include expanding off-track betting and setting up exchange wagering, a type of online betting popular in Great Britain in which two or more people place directly opposing wagers on the outcome of a horse race. Also Nov. 22, a Senate committee urged the legislature to allow voters to decide whether sports betting should be allowed at the state’s casinos and racetracks. Click onto Link for entire article.
Today Dec, 11 This Nightmare was written:
New Jersey Reform Bills Pass; Cut Racing Aid
Excerpt:
The proposals closely follow recommendations of a task force named by Gov. Chris Christie. The Hanson Commission recommended that the state focus scarce resources on Atlantic City, which has been hit hard by increased competition from out-of-state casinos and by the recession.
The report recommended the state get out of the horse racing business.
On Dec, 8, Christie vetoed plans for a full racing schedule at the horse tracks. The Standardbred season at the Meadowlands remains in limbo.
The Thoroughbred track at Monmouth Park in Oceanport ran on an abbreviated schedule last summer, but still ran about $6.6 million in the red.
The commission recommended consolidating live Standard- and Thoroughbred racing at Monmouth Park and selling or leasing that track and an off-track betting facility in Woodbridge. The long-term plan calls for additional OTB licenses to be sold to private operators.
ENTIRE ARTICLE:
New Jersey Reform Bills Pass; Cut Racing Aid
By The Associated Press
Updated: Saturday, December 11, 2010 12:43 PM
Posted: Friday, December 10, 2010 8:32 AM
The struggling casino and horse racing industries in New Jersey got a long look Dec. 9 from state lawmakers, who advanced 10 bills aimed at enhancing Atlantic City’s future and cutting the tracks loose to survive without state aid.
The proposals closely follow recommendations of a task force named by Gov. Chris Christie. The Hanson Commission recommended that the state focus scarce resources on Atlantic City, which has been hit hard by increased competition from out-of-state casinos and by the recession.
The report recommended the state get out of the horse racing business. A $30 million subsidy to fatten racing purses was recently allowed to lapse. Standardbred horsemen have been meeting with the governor’s office trying to broker a deal that would save the season at the Meadowlands scheduled to begin next month.
“The casino and horse racing industries are two backbones of New Jersey,” Assemblyman John Burzichelli said before the Assembly Regulatory and Oversight Committee hearing began. “They create jobs and spark economic development in many, many ways, and we must ensure they remain strong and competitive economic engines for generations to come.”
The centerpiece legislation, which Burzichelli sponsored, establishes a new tourism district around Atlantic City’s 11 casinos with tighter state control over planning, development and law enforcement within the district. The goal, Burzichelli said, is to cut through some of the red tape that investors have long complained about, and to create a single oversight body to spur investment in Atlantic City and market the city’s assets.
Another bill changes the regulatory structure in Atlantic City for the first time in 30 years, and is aimed at making the city more inviting to potential investors. Money saved in the regulatory overhaul would provide $30 million to horse racing over three years. Lawmakers refer to that money as transitional aid, to help racing survive the transition to private ownership.
“What we’re trying to do here is create a bridge to self-sufficiency for the horse racing industry, so valuable for job creation and revenues for the state,” said Sen. Ray Lesniak, who is sponsoring a bill that also provides short-term aid to racing.
Lesniak’s measure allows Atlantic City casinos to offer Internet wagering, which he estimated would bring up to $250 million in annual revenue and create nearly 550 jobs. The bill would dedicate up to $37 million a year to the horse racing industry for five years. The Senate has approved the legislation.
No action was taken on a bill to shorten the Standardbred racing season.
On Dec, 8, Christie vetoed plans for a full racing schedule at the horse tracks. The Standardbred season at the Meadowlands remains in limbo.
The Thoroughbred track at Monmouth Park in Oceanport ran on an abbreviated schedule last summer, but still ran about $6.6 million in the red.
The commission recommended consolidating live Standard- and Thoroughbred racing at Monmouth Park and selling or leasing that track and an off-track betting facility in Woodbridge. The long-term plan calls for additional OTB licenses to be sold to private operators.
“The property at the Meadowlands Sports Complex is simply too valuable to be occupied by a money-losing business,” Jon Hanson wrote. “This plan allows for both breeds of racing to continue while allowing the State to pursue the maximum return from the value of public assets including Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands.”
End
So a task force that New Jersey’s Governor hires comes up with this recommendation. KILL HORSE RACING
Wonderful, just Wonderful.
Again which wins out? CASINO’S.
And here we go again with this self-sufficient self-supporting, we are subsidizing you bullshit. Another Governor Granholm Liz Boyd speech.
New Jersey’s Governor Christie was quoted as saying in another article.
Christie sets up advisory commission to overhaul gaming regulations.
He reiterated that he believed the state’s policy must be “to protect Atlantic City and not damage it.” He also stressed that he wanted to see solutions to make horse racing financially independent.
“The days of subsidy by the state are coming to a close,” he said.
Currently, Atlantic City’s casinos pay $30 million a year to subsidize horse racing statewide, boosting the purses at state-owned racetracks in return for the racetracks agreeing not to pursue VLTs or slot machines. That deal expires at the end of 2011.
EXCUSE ME, LETS GO OVER THAT LAST PART AGAIN AND REALLY EXAMINE IT.
Atlantic City’s casinos pay $30 million a year to subsidize horse racing statewide, boosting the purses at state-owned racetracks in return for the racetracks agreeing not to pursue VLTs or slot machines. That deal expires at the end of 2011.
So in reality what in fact the Casino’s are paying for is not defined as subsidizing Horse Racing.
They pay Horse Racing $30 Million Dollars so they DON’T go after VLT’s or SLOTS. Because if the Horse Racing Tracks pursued and had these VLTs and Slots. They wouldn’t need a friggin thing from THE STATE much less the Casinos.
Is that right?
JUST SAY RIGHT.
These Casino’s don’t subsidize Horse Racing. They know if these Tracks pursue as they put it, I put it as going after the same evenly fair playing field as the Casino’s. The Race Tracks could maintain on their own without a single thing from the Casino’s and certainly from the State. They don’t subsidize Horse racing, they pay them so they don’t infringe on the Casino’s Business.
Is this N.J. Governor Demented or just plain full of shit.? Full of Casino shit and money if you ask me.
Another Excerpt from this article:
Joseph A. Corbo Jr., president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said, “New Jersey’s casino industry looks forward to working together with the governor and his administration and the Legislature in order to collaborate on what is mutually beneficial for Atlantic City and our state.”
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OH I AM SURE HE DOES. Working together with the Governor and his administration and the Legislature in order to collaborate on what is mutually beneficial for Atlantic City and our State.” New Jersey that is.
Only Collaborate has another meaning as lets Conspire to Kill Off the Horse Racing Industry here. But not because it’s mutually Beneficial of the State, but the mutually beneficial of just the Casino’s Pockets and paying off the State to do away with Horse Racing. Just like Here with Detroit and Michigan. Who is kidding who here?
Sounds like New Jersey’s Governor’s is getting as bought off there as ours here in Michigan. And who does Christie hire as the head of this advisory board and task force?
Jon F. Hanson
Former chairman and commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, 1982 to 1994, and real estate executive. Spent 12 years at the helm of the National Football Foundation; still involved. Also a director of Yankee Global Enterprises (owns baseball team) and Sports Network LLC (YES Network). Past president and CEO of New Jersey Nets basketball team.
And what did this man managed to accomplish when he headed The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority?
Pick the Mills Corporation to build the Xanadu complex in 2003 on 104 acres in the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which includes an arena, a stadium and a racetrack.
And what Resulted from it?
A New Push to Rescue Xanadu Mall Project
Lenders and state officials in New Jersey are desperately trying to cobble together the second rescue of Xanadu, one of the nation’s largest, most expensive and still incomplete retail and entertainment malls.
The 2.4-million-square-foot project, which began in 2003 with futuristic visions of an indoor ski slope, a super-size Ferris wheel, a concert hall, movie theaters, bowling alleys, restaurants and expensive shops, ran through two owners and a staggering $1.9 billion before work came to a halt nearly two years ago amid the financial crisis and the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The lenders are now hoping to strike a deal by the end of 2010 with a new developer and a new financial partner willing to put up more than $500 million to finish the five-story mall in the Meadowlands, six miles from Times Square.
“We’ve been working closely with the bank group in an effort to have a mutual accord on a new developer for the project,” said Jon F. Hanson, a top adviser to Gov. Chris Christie. “We are hopeful that, shortly, we can all agree as to who that developer will be.”
The difference this time is that the governor, who has made cost-cutting a hallmark of his administration, is willing to provide some low-interest financing and forgo sales tax revenues for a time, according to officials and executives involved in the talks. The plan is to resume work immediately so that the complex can open sometime in the second half of 2012.
But the resuscitation of the project faces daunting economic and strategic obstacles, according to retail experts and developers.
“It’s an awfully deep hole they have to dig out of,” said James Sullivan, a retailing specialist at Green Street Advisors, a real estate research firm. “It doesn’t mean it can’t be done. But which retailers will step up and be part of the solution remains to be seen.”
Already more than three years behind schedule, Xanadu has to overcome a troubled reputation, experts say.
Xanadu, which once had a million square feet of leases with a variety of retailers, including Cabela’s, the outdoor sports and clothing chain, must start over, luring tenants at a time when retailers are hesitant to spend cash on opening new shops.
The retail environment is particularly challenging. In nearby Yonkers, Forest City Ratner has leased only 35 percent of its 1.2-million-square-foot retail and entertainment complex at Ridge Hill, while another developer, O’Neil Properties Group, is marketing its recreation and retail project 30 minutes south of Manhattan in Sayreville, N.J.
Financing also remains expensive and hard to come by.
And to further complicate matters, Xanadu, which blends retailing with entertainment, must comply with regulations unheard of at most malls, like local blue laws, which prohibit retail sales on Sundays, and restrictions on mall activity imposed by their next-door neighbor, the Giants football team, on game days during the football season.
“It’s kind of a chicken-and-egg thing,” said Richard Brunelli, president of R. J. Brunelli, a retail consultant. “Until they get a credible developer known to have the financial resources to complete it, I don’t know how they’ll get tenants to pay attention. And they probably need to get it pre-leased to get the financing wrapped up.”
Proponents say that Xanadu still has undeniable strengths, including its location at the center of a vast network of highways and its proximity to high-income communities and tourist-rich Manhattan. And Mr. Hanson, a real estate investor himself, is confident that Xanadu can be completed and successful.
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority picked the Mills Corporation to build the Xanadu complex in 2003 on 104 acres in the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which includes an arena, a stadium and a racetrack.
But in 2006, with Mills in financial trouble and cost overruns plaguing Xanadu, a partnership led by Colony Capital, a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, took over the project, without changing the original concept. But early in 2009, Colony and its partners ran into their own problems when a subsidiary of the bankrupt Lehman Brothers cut off the promised construction financing for Xanadu.
Early this year, Colony began talks with Stephen M. Ross, chief executive of Related Companies, to bring in fresh capital to finish the project. Mr. Ross, whose company built the $1.7 billion Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, went trolling for tenants at a trade show in Las Vegas.
But Mr. Ross was unable to reach a final agreement, so in August the senior lenders for the project, who had invested $500 million, foreclosed, essentially wiping out the $1.4 billion put into Xanadu by Mills and Colony, Dune Capital and Kan Am.
Since then, the lenders and their advisers, Moelis & Company and Jones Lang LaSalle, have talked to a variety of possible partners, including the Triple Five group, which owns the Mall of America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada, two of the largest in the world; General Growth Properties; and Vornado Realty Trust.
“We are pleased with the level of interest we have received from prospective developers, and hope to name a new developer for the project shortly,” said Michael Beckerman, a spokesman for the lenders.
The new partners would have to put up $600 million to $800 million, according to executives involved in the talks. But they would be the first to reap any potential profits, because the lenders’ $500 million would be subordinate to the new investment.
In addition, the Christie administration is likely to provide about $180 million in low-interest bonds, which would be repaid by diverting 75 percent of the projected sales tax revenues from Xanadu. Although the state’s advisers once described Xanadu as a “failed business model,” they have since softened their stance.
The Christie administration is eager to see Xanadu restarted, especially since the adjacent racetrack loses money, the Izod arena is without a tenant and the newly built stadium for the Jets and the Giants pays less in rent and fees than the old stadium.
But Mr. Brunelli, the retail adviser, said that he would surprised to see Governor Christie “put taxpayer money into this.”
“It would fly in the face of what he’s been preaching,” he added. “Nor do I believe taxpayers should put money into the project. The market should determine whether the project goes forward, not politicians.”
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Jon F. Hanson was a disaster. A project he hand-picked turned out to be a financial nightmare that now will cost New Jersey $180 million dollars funded by Governor Christie’s Administration. New Jersey’s State Advisors stated this was a failed business deal.
In addition, the Christie administration is likely to provide about $180 million in low-interest bonds, which would be repaid by diverting 75 percent of the projected sales tax revenues from Xanadu. Although the state’s advisers once described Xanadu as a “failed business model,” they have since softened their stance.
The Christie administration is eager to see Xanadu restarted, especially since the adjacent racetrack loses money, the Izod arena is without a tenant and the newly built stadium for the Jets and the Giants pays less in rent and fees than the old stadium.
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Well now this makes perfectly good sense. Governor Christie who picked this Loser Jon Hanson his top advisor who in turn picked a Corporation to build a $1.9 Billion Shopping extravaganza combination of a 2.4-million-square-foot project, which began in 2003 with futuristic visions of an indoor ski slope, a super-size Ferris wheel, a concert hall, movie theaters, bowling alleys, restaurants and expensive shops. Along with a Sports Arena and New Racetrack, ALL THAT FAILED. Now picked this same inept Real Estate Mogul to head this Task Force on Horse Racing and his conclusion is the State of New Jersey KILL OFF HORSE RACING. It’s to expensive. It’s costing that State too much money. Yet has again started up the failed Xanadu at a cost of a $180 million dollars. Do I have this all RIGHT?
Hanson’s Project fails but The Christie administration is eager to see Xanadu restarted, especially since the adjacent racetrack loses money, the Izod arena is without a tenant and the newly built stadium for the Jets and the Giants pays less in rent and fees than the old stadium. And what becomes of Hanson. Governor Christie appoints Hanson the head of the Task Force to give the Governor a report of whether Horse Racing is causing the State too much money.
“The property at the Meadowlands Sports Complex is simply too valuable to be occupied by a money-losing business,” Jon Hanson wrote.
Jon Hanson couldn’t even get a Business Built, Finished and Going. And now his boss the Governor is going to give it another try at a $180 Million of tax payers money. But he concludes: The report recommended the State get out of the horse racing business.
It would seem that New Jersey needs a recovery plan from Governor Christie and his Top Advisor/Task Force guy.
Unbelieveble
You fail, cause gigantic problem, cost the State millions and your solution to it all is Kill Horse Racing in New Jersey.
How about killing yourself instead.
We have a Governor willing to provide $180 million dollars more to a project that has already wiped out $1.4 Billion dollars of other Investors money. And it was all because of this same top advisor you appointed yet now trust him to give you a report on Gaming, Sports and Entertainment and what should be done to for an Economic Recovery Plan?
Jon Hanson is one of the reasons you need a recovery plan. My recommendation is that New Jersey fire the Governor and his Top Advisor.
So another State that’s in cahoots with the Casino’s and Horse Racing is in the way. And the same lie fly’s. Horse Racing isn’t self supported and is subsidized.
In this case by Casino’s paying them not to pursue VLT’s or Slots because they know if the Tracks get them, there goes a large part of their business. So the subsidizing part? Horse Racing didn’t ask the Casinos for money, the Casinos paid Horse Racing off willingly to not to pursue what they had? But now they don’t want to pay anymore.
I don’t know in Jersey of all places? In some realms if you don’t want to pay anymore could get you killed by a certain group or Mob.
I don’t know sounds to me that the Horsemen/Women in every State that are battling corrupt Politicians and Casinos need to resort to the Jimmy Hoffa type of tactics. Like kicking in a few heads. Which ever heads need kicking in first. In any respect another State shitting on Horse Racing.
Racing at Monmouth Park on the shores of New Jersey actually began on Independence Day in 1870. The track was an instant success and in some years offered the highest purse distribution of any track in North America. In 1890, the Monmouth Park was completely rebuilt into one of the finest facilities in the country.
Another State where Horse Racing was here First.
From November 23 to December 10. What a difference a couple of weeks make. From gearing too, to cutting the throats. And they do it without batting an eye lash.
Sickening
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