Arlington Park Could Halt Racing, Nixes Casino License: Owner

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — After years of lobbying for slot machines and table games at Arlington Park, Churchill Downs Inc. has announced it will not move forward with obtaining a casino license for the racetrack. In the unexpected announcement Wednesday, the owner of the local racetrack said horse racing would continue through at least 2021 at the racetrack as company decides on its future plans and blamed a state law that requires racetracks to contribute a portion of its casino game profit to racing purses, the Daily Herald reports.

The company, according to the statement, is thinking about moving its racing license to a different community in the Chicago area or elsewhere in Illinois.

"The Chicagoland market has seen a significant proliferation of video gaming terminals over the last several years and now faces the potential introduction of five new gaming facilities as well as increased gaming positions at existing casinos and video gaming outlets," Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said in a statement. "Arlington would enter this market with an effective tax rate that would be approximately 17.5 percent to 20 percent higher than the existing Chicagoland casinos due to contributions to the thoroughbred purse account."

Other gambling venues are not required to contribute similar tax rates to purse accounts.

Crain's Chicago Business reported in July that Churchill was exploring selling Arlington Park and focusing its attention on Rivers Casino. Churchill has also said it will apply for one of six just-authorized casino licenses to build a casino in Waukegan.

• Waukegan To Place Bets On Best Of 6 Casino Proposals

Downs' announcement comes weeks after Gov. J.B. Pritzker passed the Illinois Gaming Act. The new law is meant to allow growth for gambling operators, bring $350 million in additional state revenue and gave Downs the chance to add as many as 1,200 casino gaming positions, such as slot machines, to Arlington Park, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Also on Wednesday, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horseman's Association decried Downs' decision, stating that it was "shocked and stunned" by the announcement not to offer "supplemental gaming at Arlington Park" with the purpose of growing jobs and economic opportunity for thousands of employees at the track and throughout the state’s agribusiness community.

"For more than a decade, Arlington has lobbied Illinois governors and legislators for permission to offer casino-style games as a means to boost revenue at the track and generate funds to significantly improve the quality of horsemen’s purses," according to the statement from ITHSA. "Indeed, Arlington in recent years elevated its lobbying push by insisting that the track be granted the authority to offer table games — in addition to slots — to ensure its racino would be economically feasible."

ITHSA went onto state Downs appeared poised to "instead abandon its commitment to racing in Illinois and focus solely on its stake in the Rivers Casino and potentially other Illinois casinos not yet developed."

"Churchhill has snubbed not only the working men and women of thoroughbred horse racing whose collective livelihood depends on live racing, but also all of the elected officials it has so intensely lobbied over the last decade," according to the IHSA statement.

IHSA suggested Downs should be denied the"enormous financial advantages" Arlington Park receives, including its property tax break of $2.47 million this year; the track's recapture subsidy, which was $4.47 million in 2019 and came straight from horsemen's purses; and the chance to apply for a sports betting license linked to Arlington.

Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney and Fairmont Race Track in downstate Collinsville have applied for a casino license.

More via the Chicago Tribune, Crain's Chicago Business and Daily Herald