Derby Attention Masks Racing's Decline

WSJ:

While the Kentucky Derby and other signature horse-racing events remain popular, a long-run decline in thoroughbred racing has prompted owners of many of the nation's tracks to close them down to make way for housing developments and office parks. What used to be the famed Bay Meadows racetrack here—spread across 171 acres—will soon see 1,000 new housing units, about one-third of which will be rental housing and the rest single-family homes and town homes.
Similar scenes are playing out across the nation. Later this year, Bay Meadows' owner, Stockbridge Capital, will begin demolishing a second track, Los Angeles' Hollywood Park, which is on prime real estate near Los Angeles International Airport. That also will become homes and offices. On Saturday, Ohio's 91-year-old Beulah Park, which is near Columbus, will run its last race...
Last year, 100 racetracks ran at least one thoroughbred race, down from 111 in 1991, according to Equibase, an industry-owned database. But that modest decline doesn't capture just how much pressure there is on the industry: The number of thoroughbred races was down 19% from a decade ago, and the wagering handle has fallen by roughly 30% to about $11 billion.
"The underlying economics of the [racing] business are gone," Mr. Meany said.
The main culprit: competition from casinos. Decades ago, in the industry's heyday, horse and dog races were more or less the only place Americans could legally gamble outside of Las Vegas. Since then, the nationwide explosion in gambling—which began in tribal casinos and riverboats but has steadily moved closer to population centers and into downtowns—has siphoned off customers.

Beulah Park, along with Raceway Park in Toledo were vehicles in the spread of casino gambling in Ohio.  After casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo were approved by voters in 2009, Governor Strickland granted "racino" licenses to Ohio's seven racetracks.  Not long after that, it was announced that Raceway Park would relocate to Dayton and Beulah Park would move to Youngstown, allowing slots gambling in two more of the metro areas in the state.  There is also talk that Thistledown will move a few miles south from North Randall in the Cleveland suburbs to be closer to the Akron-Canton market.  From a gaming perspective, the moves make sense, but from a horse racing perspective it is clear that the horse racing is only a vehicle for a gaming license.  If you can't justify keeping thoroughbred racing in Columbus, where the population is growing, and instead move the track to Rust Belt poster-child Youngstown, the future of the sport outside of the major races is extremely suspect.