{"id":78401,"date":"2018-05-22T16:00:28","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T23:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=78401"},"modified":"2018-05-22T16:06:13","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T23:06:13","slug":"can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Jersey plans to have its sports betting regulations<\/a> in place by June 7, by which time Monmouth Park<\/a> will be ready to go. In fact, it was ready in 2014, when only a federal injunction prevented it from unveiling its shiny new William Hill sports book, and it has been chomping at the bit ever since.<\/p>\n

\"Atlantic
The Atlantic City Race Course in more prosperous times. Should someone take a bet on reopening the course, it\u2019s possible it would need rebuilding from the ground up, an Atlantic City lawmaker said this week. (Image: Turfotos\/Historical Photo Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, the Atlantic City Race Course, which closed the following year in 2015, has no shiny sports book. Instead, it\u2019s overgrown with weeds and its clubhouse is derelict, according to Atlantic City Township Committeeman John Kurtz, who spoke to the Press of Atlantic City<\/em> this week.<\/p>\n

New Jersey has fought for the right to offer sports betting since 2011, when its citizens authorized sports books in a public referendum in the hope they would offer a shot in the arm to the state\u2019s ailing racetracks and casinos.<\/p>\n

Thanks to those efforts, and a positive decision from the US Supreme Court, seven years later sports betting is now imminent. But will its advent rescue the Atlantic City Racecourse?<\/p>\n

The Clock is Ticking <\/strong><\/h2>\n

State Senator Chris Brown (R-Atlantic) told the Press of Atlantic City<\/em> he hoped sports betting would spur the site\u2019s current owner, Greenwood ACRA, into renovating and reopening the property, or into selling it to someone who would be willing to take the gamble.<\/p>\n

“Permitting sports betting at the course will, hopefully, provide the financial opportunity needed for the owners to be able to fix up or sell an unused eyesore, so it can once again employ 400 people while attracting hundreds of visitors to our area,\u201d said Brown.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But a decision would need to be made quickly. Under the legislation expected to be passed early next month, companies will have a two-year window in which to apply for a sports betting license before they miss the boat.<\/p>\n

Glory Days<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to Kurtz, the building would need a \u201cmajor overhaul, or it would have to be demolished and (re)start(ed) from the ground up.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the 250-acre property has potential, according to State Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo (R-Atlantic), who told the Press of Atlantic City<\/em> there was scope for the development of restaurants, retail facilities, and even a hotel.<\/p>\n

The Atlantic City Race Course opened in July 1946, attracting the largest ever inaugural day racetrack crowd in history, of around 28,000 people. In the summer of 1969, it hosted the Atlantic City Pop Festival, which was attended by over 100,000 people and featured a line-up that included Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Byrds and Little Richard.<\/p>\n

But it suffered from the nationwide decline the popularity of horse racing over the past five decades, and particularly from the legalization of casino gambling in Atlantic City in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Jersey plans to have its sports betting regulations in place by June 7, by which time Monmouth Park will be ready to go. In fact, it was ready in 2014, when only a federal injunction prevented it from unveiling its shiny new William Hill sports book, and it has been chomping at the bit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":78403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,14577,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New Jersey Sports betting could be the savior of the historic shuttered Atlantic City Race Course, which is becoming derelict, according to New Jersey State Senator Chris Brown, but time is of the essence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Jersey Sports betting could be the savior of the historic shuttered Atlantic City Race Course, which is becoming derelict, according to New Jersey State Senator Chris Brown, but time is of the essence.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-22T23:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-22T23:06:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/acrc.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/\",\"name\":\"Can Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/acrc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-22T23:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-22T23:06:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"New Jersey Sports betting could be the savior of the historic shuttered Atlantic City Race Course, which is becoming derelict, according to New Jersey State Senator Chris Brown, but time is of the essence.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/acrc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/acrc.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":707,\"caption\":\"The Atlantic City Race Course in more prosperous times. Should someone take a bet on reopening the course, it\u2019s possible it would need rebuilding from the ground up, an Atlantic City lawmaker said this week. (Image: Turfotos\/Historical Photo Archives)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Can Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?","description":"New Jersey Sports betting could be the savior of the historic shuttered Atlantic City Race Course, which is becoming derelict, according to New Jersey State Senator Chris Brown, but time is of the essence.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?","og_description":"New Jersey Sports betting could be the savior of the historic shuttered Atlantic City Race Course, which is becoming derelict, according to New Jersey State Senator Chris Brown, but time is of the essence.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2018-05-22T23:00:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-22T23:06:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":707,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/acrc.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/","name":"Can Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/acrc.jpg","datePublished":"2018-05-22T23:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-22T23:06:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"New Jersey Sports betting could be the savior of the historic shuttered Atlantic City Race Course, which is becoming derelict, according to New Jersey State Senator Chris Brown, but time is of the essence.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/acrc.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/acrc.jpg","width":1200,"height":707,"caption":"The Atlantic City Race Course in more prosperous times. Should someone take a bet on reopening the course, it\u2019s possible it would need rebuilding from the ground up, an Atlantic City lawmaker said this week. (Image: Turfotos\/Historical Photo Archives)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/can-sports-betting-save-the-atlantic-city-race-course\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Can Sports Betting Save the Atlantic City Race Course?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78401"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}