Both the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly unanimously passed legislation to legalize fixed-odds wagering, and the bill will now head to Gov. Phil Murphy, who is expected to sign it, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.
Australian firm BetMakers has secured an exclusive 10-year agreement with New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen Association and Darby Development LLC., the operator of Monmouth Park racetrack, to deliver and manage fixed-odds wagering on Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey. BetMakers expects fixed-odds wagering be operational in time for Haskell Day on July 17.
Takeout on the fixed-odds wagers will 12.5 percent.
BetMakers’ head of international operations Dallas Baker said the company hopes to see fixed-odds wagering revitalize the horse racing industry in the United States, increasing both handle and purse accounts, as it has done in Australia.
“Our ultimate goal is to have what happened in Australia over the last 10 years or so and after online betting was deregulated happen here,” Baker told the TDN. “In that time, the handle has doubled and purse money doubled as well. That’s what we want to see here, too. The opportunity exists in the U.S. to have that happen here and on a quicker time line than 10 years.”
Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
New to the Paulick Report? Click here to sign up for our daily email newsletter to keep up on this and other stories happening in the Thoroughbred industry.
Copyright © 2021 Paulick Report.