Kansas dog tracks pushing for slots

Carl Manning

Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002 | 9:35 a.m.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- As Larry Seckington sees it, slot machines at the Woodlands would keep the pari-mutuel dog and horse tracks from going bust and give the state of Kansas a jolt of dollars.

"The state already is in the gambling business. We're not asking for any tax breaks or loans, just a chance to stay in business," the track's legal counsel said.

Seckington said the Woodlands has lost patrons to the casinos in nearby Kansas City, Mo., and "we just want a chance to survive."

To that end, there's a push again this year to allow slots at the Woodlands, Camptown Greyhound Park in Frontenac and Wichita Greyhound Park.

Legislators haven't rushed to embrace the idea of expanding legal gambling in Kansas beyond the forms already allowed -- pari-mutuel racing, the Kansas Lottery and Indian casinos. But the House and Senate begin the 2002 session in Topeka on Monday facing some of the worst budget problems in recent memory.

This year, it seems all options are on the table.

"I would not rule out any option that could potentially come here, but I am not very interested in those ideas that put additional gaming on every street corner, in every city around the state," Gov. Bill Graves said.

Of the 14 states that allow slot machines, four -- Delaware, Iowa, New Mexico and West Virginia -- limit them to racetracks.

Various ideas have been floated, but most talk is about slots at the three tracks and perhaps at fraternal clubs. Only the four Indian casinos in northeast Kansas have slot machines, but the state gets no money from them.

Many lawmakers say any gambling bill must allow voters in the county where the slots are to be located to have the final say.

The big question is how much money would the state get.

Seckington said the tracks want 20 percent of the adjusted gross revenue going to the state, which he estimated would mean $125 million from the Woodlands. Adjusted gross revenue is the amount of money put into the slots minus the money paid out.

"You can't slice the pie much thinner," he said.

Last year, the Senate voted 23-17 against a bill to allow slot machines at the tracks and give the state 30 percent of adjusted gross revenue, to be earmarked for education. The House voted 73-49 to reject a bill that would have allocated 25 percent to the state.

Senate President Dave Kerr, who opposes slots at the tracks, doesn't see things changing this year in his chamber.

"I have not been told by any senator that the way they voted in the past will change simply because we have some financial problems," said Kerr, R-Hutchinson.

Slots won't mean magic money to plug the $426 million revenue hole in fiscal 2003 state budget. But it could mean addition money for future years.

"It wouldn't come close to closing the revenue gap this year. It's not a silver bullet," House Speaker Kent Glasscock, R-Manhattan, said.

Glasscock said he and other lawmakers would like to see a bigger share for the state and have it earmarked for education.

"For it to pass, folks will need to know it will generate enough revenue to have a material impact on education budgets," Glasscock said.

The Woodlands, with about 250 days of dog racing and 26 days of horse racing, has been losing money for years, Seckington said.

Estimated total attendance in 1990, the Woodlands' first full year, was 1.5 million, Seckington said. Last year, the dog track drew 232,311 patrons, down 14 percent from 2000, while attendance at the horse track rose 0.8 percent to 26,549.

As attendance dropped, so did the handle -- the amount wagered -- and that translated to less revenue for the track.

Last year, nearly $12.5 million was bet at the Woodlands on dogs, a 27 percent drop from 2000. Horse betting was $1.2 million, down almost 1 percent.

Simulcast betting on dogs was $14.5 million, a 16 percent drop and on horses it was $34.7 million, a 2 percent increase. Total wagering in all forms was $63.1 million last year, a 9.5 percent drop from 2000.

During the Woodlands' 12-month 1990-91 season, the first both tracks were open, spectators wagered nearly $144 million on the dogs and more than $34 million on the horses.

"Pari-mutuel wagering hasn't attracted the young sports enthusiast. Our patrons generally are middle age and older," Seckington said. "The numbers are dwindling."

At the dog track, the decline has been such that the lower level of the enclosed grandstand is not used. Upstairs, some 420 tables are covered with white cloths on seven tiers for those who come to dine and watch the races through large plate-glass windows.

Seckington said Woodlands officials want to have up to 1,500 slots. He said that would create 700 jobs along with the 350 workers already on the Woodlands payroll.

"It definitely will bring more people in," Seckington said. "Many tracks around the country have gone to slot machines because racing won't support itself."

The Missouri Gaming Commission says Kansas City casinos took in $555 million in fiscal year 2001. Seckington said 40 percent of that came from Kansans.

"That's money Kansans already are gambling that Kansas gets no benefit from," Seckington said. "We are trying to divert part of the existing market back to Kansas, but we need a change in the law to do that."