Greyhound activists join Florida’s gambling fight – The News-Press

Alexandra Glorioso, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida Published 9:14 p.m. ET April 8, 2017 | Updated 15 hours ago

Greyhounds break from the starting box at Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track. Teh facility says a state requirement that it run 3,200 races per year to keep poker room and simulcast wagering licenses costs $2 million per year in losses(Photo: NEWS-PRESS STAFF PHOTO/JACK HARDMAN)Buy Photo

TALLAHASSEE - Floridas high-stakes fight over gambling features powerful forces clashing, including the Seminole tribe, Disney World and 12 owners of race tracks.

And then theres GREY2K, a national advocacy group with less muscle but no less fight championing the cause of greyhounds. This years battle over gambling offers the greyhound group a rare opportunity to accomplish its goal: eliminate dog racing now held to justify card games in Florida.

Florida began its foray into a complicated gaming system in 1931 when it legalized betting among ourselves, or pari-mutuels, in the form of live events such as jai alai matches, and horse and greyhound racing. Since then, every step to expand gambling across the state has been legislatively linked to these live events.

In an attempt to renegotiate a 2010 agreement with the Seminole tribe and bring in $3 billion to state coffers, House and Senate leaders are pushing gambling bills that represent wildly different ideas about gaming in Florida.

The House bill, H 7037, run by Rep. Mike La Rosa, a chair of the tourism and gaming subcommittee from St. Cloud, cracks down on gambling laws entangled in a series of federal and state lawsuits by forbidding slot machines in eight counties including Brevard, Lee and St. Lucie that have approved them. It also ties greyhounds to gambling until the contract expires in 2036.

The Senate bill, SB8, sponsored by Sen. Bill Galvano, a chair of the education subcommittee from Bradenton, broadly expands gambling by allowing any county that has approved slot machines to have them and unbinding live events from card rooms, including greyhound racing.

The tribe argues both plans dont go far enough.

Some Republicans say GREY2K could benefit this year from the intricate chess game of ideology, lawsuits and special interests, and successfully disconnect greyhound racing from card games.

It would completely depend on the details, said La Rosa. But he acknowledged, its something that could be discussed.

Galvano said he was not interested in taking La Rosa up on a slot machine-live-events trade but did call greyhound racing a dying industry.

About GREY2K, he said, They are effective, but its an easy sell.

GREY2K is a national nonprofit co-founded by Carey Theil that works towards outlawing greyhound racing. Theil said he started working in Florida during its legislative sessions in 2012.

His political argument is simple: Tracks shouldnt be forced to race dogs up to 16 times a day so that gambling facilities can have card rooms. The races no longer attract crowds and the tracks are losing money.

As evidence, he referenced financial reports from the state that show race tracks operating at a combined $31.2 million loss in 2015. In addition, the number of days for live racing, which includes greyhounds, has declined by nearly 39 percent since fiscal year 2007, according to the last annual report released by the states Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Theil said his organization does contribute to political campaigns but in the tens of thousands of dollars compared to other groups battling in the gambling fight that give in the six figures every cycle.

His tactics have frequently aligned him with Senate moderates who want to expand gaming and pitted him against House conservatives who link live events to card rooms as a political strategy to limit gambling in the state.

Theils biggest political adversary is Jack Cory, a lobbyist who said he represents all of the dog people. Cory considers Theil a political opportunist who has very little real involvement with animals.

Cory argues the greyhound racing industry provides a stable, profitable income with less up-front investment than horses for blue-collar dog breeders, farmers and trainers. He sees himself as a natural enemy to race track owners, whose buildings he refers to as ugly, whose tracks he frequently criticizes as unsafe and who he says are too greedy. Track owners keep 19 to 30 percent of prize money for races while Corys clients split about 4 percent, he said.

From Corys perspective, Theil is really just giving race track owners who already have a monopoly on one industry the political edge to become even more profitable.

Cory said the state monitors racing statistics and financials from live betting but does not do the same for betting from computers or telephones, which are reaping huge profits for track owners but arent reported and are currently illegal under state law.

The financial reports to the department are self reporting and are fake reports because they are reporting by millionaires that want to become billionaires by having casinos, Cory said.

Ron Book, the lobbyist for the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita owned by the Havernick family, said greyhound racing isnt profitable period, and the racetracks he represents arent engaged with track betting by phones or computers.

I will not dignify made up ignorant commentary by Mr. Cory who makes things up to suit his interests, Book said.

Book supports the Senate bill and said the Havernick family wants slots, cards and would love to continue limited racing for Naples-Fort Myers.

Read or Share this story: http://newspr.es/2oO5F0Q

Follow this link:

Greyhound activists join Florida's gambling fight - The News-Press