Casino proposal
Oaklawn takes wait-and-see approach
Oaklawn Racing & Gaming is taking a wait-and-see approach to a casino gambling amendment that could appear on the ballot this November if some 85,000 signatures are gathered by a July 6 deadline set forth by the Arkansas attorney general’s office.
“We are waiting to see if this meets the signature threshold to qualify for the November ballot before finalizing a position,” an Oaklawn spokesperson told The Sentinel-Record via email. He declined to confirm whether Oaklawn would support or oppose the measure.
Driving Arkansas Forward, the coalition supporting the proposed
constitutional amendment, began canvassing on June 19, and, if the group manages to collect enough signatures, voters will be seeing it on the Nov. 6 ballot. It calls for the legalization of traditional casino gaming in Arkansas, allowing Oaklawn in Hot Springs and Southland Park Gaming & Racing in West Memphis to expand their current offerings of electronic games of skill to traditional casino games of chance. The two venues would also be allowed to offer sports betting.
Additionally, Pope and Jefferson counties, with the approval of their local governments, could become home to one resort-style casino each. The counties were pinpointed because of their proximity to state borders. Members of the Driving Arkansas Forward Coalition contend that Arkansas is losing potentially millions of dollars in tax revenues to neighboring states with legalized casino gambling.
“We don’t expect any negative impact on Oaklawn,” said Nate Steel, a Little Rock-based attorney for Driving Arkansas Forward. “They have a lot to gain and nothing to lose because of this amendment.”
Steel said projections not only indicate the measure would increase revenues for Oaklawn but also tax revenues for Hot Springs and for Garland County. Hot Springs receives about $1.5 million in tax revenue from Oaklawn while Garland County receives about half a million dollars annually. Those figures could increase to $3.8 million and $1.6 million, respectively, Steel said.
He said the proposed casinos would also be required to contribute a percentage of revenues to increase purses for Oaklawn’s live race season. If this happens, Steel said, Oaklawn could have the largest purse winnings for thoroughbred racing in the country.
“It only makes sense to offer traditional casino gaming and to include Oaklawn,” Steel said. “Obviously we want to have their support and not their opposition, but it always seemed arbitrary to leave one of Arkansas’ best gaming facilities without traditional casino gaming.”
The coalition, backed, in part, by the Quapaw and Cherokee tribes, both operators of casinos in Oklahoma, projects the casinos would generate about $120 million in tax revenue for Arkansas.
“One important aspect of this thing is it should finally put the casino issue in Arkansas to bed,” Steel said. “We don’t see Arkansas continuing year after year allowing casino gaming to be conducted at every border of our state and that money leaving Arkansas.”
The legalization of casinos in the state “is bound to happen at some point,” he said.