Butler named head of new 1/ST racing and gaming division

The racing company 1/ST has reshuffled its management lineup and created a new division that will be headed by Aidan Butler, the company’s chief operating officer, the company announced on Thursday.

The new division, 1/ST Racing and Gaming, will “continue to oversee racing operations at 1/ST tracks and training centers while working to expand the company’s gaming footprint” into sports betting and other gambling endeavors, 1/ST said in its announcement. Butler will serve as the division’s chief executive officer.

Sports betting has been legalized in 26 states, and late this year, voters in California will vote on two measures that could legalize the practice, with one of the referenda specifically limiting sports betting to racetracks and Indian tribes. 1/ST owns Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields in California.

Sports betting is a highly competitive market. While many racetrack companies are moving aggressively to strike relationships with leading gambling companies to gain a foothold in the market, only one racing company, Churchill Downs Inc., has attempted to enter the market on its own. CDI folded that division earlier this year, citing the high costs of customer acquisition and retention. Earlier this month, it reached an agreement with FanDuel to get its racing signals on that company’s sports-gambling app.

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“The shifting landscape of sports wagering, digital platforms, and interest in high-quality content presents an opportunity for 1/ST to innovate to meet the demands of our modern consumers,” said Belinda Stronach, the chief executive of 1/ST, which was formerly known as The Stronach Group, in a release. “An enhanced 1/ST Racing and Gaming business unit will enable us to move faster and more efficiently to deliver our unique, industry-leading Thoroughbred horse racing, gaming, and sports entertainment content to the next generation audience.”

1/ST also owns Gulfstream Park in Florida, where an agreement between the state and the Seminole Tribe to offer sports betting was struck down by a judge last year. The legislature is expected to attempt to address sports betting in the near future, but expansion of gambling in Florida is complicated by the immense political power of the state’s Indian tribes.

In Maryland, where 1/ST owns and operates Laurel Park and Pimlico, sports betting is currently legal at bricks-and-mortar casinos, but the state legislature has yet to work out a bill that would allow for mobile betting, which is legal in neighboring jurisdictions Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., West Virginia, and Virginia.

Also as part of the re-shuffle, Craig Fravel, the chief executive of the company’s 1/ST Racing division, which is now defunct, will become 1/ST’s executive vice chairman. In the announcement, 1/ST said that Fravel will “oversee critical and strategic matters for 1/ST Racing and Gaming, including national communications and public relations, governmental and industry stakeholder relations, as well as multiple corporate functions.”

The company also announced two new hires for the 1/ST Racing and Gaming unit, including Steve Screnci, the president of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which works closely with Gulfstream Park management on racing and political issues. Screnci has been appointed the head of racing and business development at the new division.

Rikki Tanenbaum, a former chief operating officer for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in California, has been hired as the division’s chief commercial officer and president of gaming. The San Manuel Band operates a casino in San Bernardino, California. Tanenbaum has also held positions at Golden Nugget Casinos, Caesars Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, and MGM Resorts International.

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