Sports book buoys Monmouth's bottom line

It is roughly halfway through an expanded meet at Monmouth Park in Oceanside, N.J., this year, and the track’s management is so far pleased with the trajectory the track is on.

The track certainly had some tailwinds coming into the 61-day meet, which started on May 4, Kentucky Derby day. Last year, the legislature passed a bill promising $50 million in purse subsidies for the track over five years, leading Monmouth to expand its meet by nine days. The track’s sports book, which was the first to open in the state last June, has established itself as a leading betting operation in the state.

Business has been good enough so far to announce a 5 percent purse increase, effective with the blockbuster Haskell Invitational card on Saturday. And Dennis Drazin, the head of the management company that operates Monmouth on behalf of the state’s horsemen’s group, says that the finances of the track have stabilized after some difficulties over the past few years.

“We’re stable,” Drazin said on Thursday. “We’re not worried about the future of Monmouth Park. We are meeting our obligations.”

Buoyed by the $10 million purse subsidy for this year, total purses through July 14 are up 40 percent over the comparable date last year, to $11.55 million, though Monmouth had held 28 race cards through that date compared to 24 last year (one Saturday card this year was cut short after four races because of inclement weather). Average purses per card through that date were up 20 percent, to $412,505, according to a data analysis conducted by Daily Racing Form, with the track’s big stakes days yet to come.

While total wagering is up 8.2 percent to $96.7 million compared to $88.7 million last year, average wagering per card is down 6.6 percent, to $3.54 million, according to the analysis. With racing conducted over more days this year than last year, field size has also declined, by nearly half a horse, from 7.4 last year to 7.0 horses this year.

In short, horsemen are running for more money, in more races, with a better chance to earn a paycheck. But that expansion has made the wagering product a bit less desirable, on average, while also stretching local bankrolls.

The numbers for the Monmouth meet are especially important this year because legislators added a provision in the purse-subsidy legislation that requires tracks to detail how the subsidy improved racing in order to qualify for the same subsidy the following year. Language in the bill signed by Gov. Phil Murphy earlier this year makes “all future appropriations subject to the budget,” or, in other words, subject to legislative review.

At the Monmouth Park sports book, gross revenue through the end of June this year was $7.4 million, according to records from the state’s casino commission. That number places Monmouth’s operation squarely second in the state, if far behind the leading location, the Meadowlands, which had $45.1 million in gross revenue through June as the state’s dominant bricks-and-mortar location.

Monmouth’s sports-book operator also runs a mobile-betting operation, and gross revenue through the track’s service has been $3.1 million this year through June, according to the records. That’s good for fourth in the state among internet operations.

Drazin said that the sports book is contributing significantly to the track’s finances, in part by making the track a year round operation.

“The overall effect is very positive,” Drazin said. “It helps your food and beverage numbers, it brings activity to the track year-round.” He cited the fact that the NFL football season starts in September, as the Monmouth Park meet is winding down, with racing not set to return until May of the next year. “It closes that live-racing gap, and it keeps the place alive.”