Casino gambling continues to gain territory in Arkansas

Southland cashed in USD 2.172 billion in wagers, with USD 2.022 billion in payouts. That left USD 150 million from which to take taxes, overhead expenses and track profit. That’s about a 93 % payout rate. 

Oaklawn: USD 1.359 billion in wagers; USD 1.274 billion in payouts. That left USD 85 million for taxes, overhead and profit, and moreover a payout rate of a bit more than 93 percent. From that, USD 235 million was netted from casino wagering (still officially referred by the quaint, euphemistic term, “electronic games of skill”). The state averaged USD 3 million a month in tax revenue.

In total, it collected a total of  USD 39.5 million in the full year which closed on June 30.

Racing continues at both tracks, yet is a negligible tax revenue producer compared with casino gambling — USD 2.9 million combined from horse and greyhound racing taxes in the last fiscal year, or 7 % of casino take. Oaklawn has bulked up thoroughbred racing purses with profits to attract better horses and has sustained a better horse racing operation than many tracks around the country. However, Southland is another matter, certainly in terms of attendance.

Total greyhound wagering in 2013, the most recent year found for this figure , was down to USD 18 million on almost 6,000 greyhound races, or hardly more than USD 3,000 wagered per race. Greyhound tracks across the country are struggling and some have given up racing entirely to switch to casinos. Would Southland drop greyhound racing if it could? It’s an absorbing question and a development in that groups in that oppose hound racing on humane grounds would like to see. But there’s an obstacle.

Only places in that bid parimutuel wagering in Arkansas are allowed to have “electronic games of skill,” or casino gambling. No parimutuels, no casino. Unless, that is, a legislative workaround can be found akin to the sleight of hand which opened the door to casino gambling despite a constitutional prohibition. (Parimutuel wagering is considered a skill, too, just like poker, blackjack and Wheel of Fortune slot machines.) It’s telling that the home page for Southland Park shows almost no evidence of hound racing, focusing instead on casino photos. 

Up until now, efforts to legalize casinos in Arkansas beyond the duopoly at Southland and Oaklawn have been unsuccessful.

But that situation could change as the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma moves.