The long wait has finally come to an end for the people of New Jersey, at least for those who love to gamble. In a bill which the Governor, Murphy, signed into law, the senate and state assembly had unanimously voted in favor of fixed odds wagering.
Since the two houses had passed the bill in June, casino operators and betting services providers had been on their toes hoping that Murphy appended his signature to the bill. Well, he did it and wagering on fixed odds will now be taking place for thoroughbred races on Monmouth Park.
In the bill, the manner in which fixed odds will be offered has been clarified. This is important because since 2018, the rules on fixed odds have been changing on the occasions in which they were offered.
Speaking after the bill had been signed, Dennis Drazin, who is an operator at Monmouth Park, could not hide his excitement. He revealed that the provider had been patient for a long time and it is finally paying off. Speaking on behalf of the management, Drazin reported that the action of signing the bill had pointed the gambling industry in New Jersey in the right direction.
In the pari-mutuel mode of betting, placing a horse racing bet of $100 at an odd of 10-to-1 means that their wager is lost if the odds dip. Fixed odds on the other hand mean that the bettor earns some money for their bet even if the bet value at the end of the race is over or below the mark.
Horse race bettors can now experience the same thrill as do those that place sports bets through a sportsbook. In Monmouth Park, this experience can be obtained from Caesars Sportsbook or the Meadowlands Racetrack via the FanDuel Sportsbook.
According to William Pascrell III, a prominent lobbyist in New Jersey, the parimutuel model of betting is outdated. He terms fixed odds as an exciting innovation to happen in the race tracks in a long time.
What we cover
The first venue of application will be Monmouth Park
Even though it appears that the law has been passed fast, it first saw the floor of the state assembly in November 2020. If not for concerns which were raised by leaders of the gambling industry proposed that the bill should be put on hold until everyone was satisfied.
Drazin and the horsemen at Monmouth Park also had to put their betting deals on hold as the legislatures ironed out issues in the initial bill. For a period of over 18 months, all interested parties had to give way to the law to take its course before it could be implemented. The doors have finally been opened for Monmouth Park but Freehold Raceway and Meadowlands Racetrack will have to wait a little longer to take bets.
There is definitely a lot to celebrate with the new development but quite a number of horsemen have a serious concern. Many argue that the amount taken out from the bet amount is relatively lower for fixed odds compared to what is set apart from the pari-mutuel betting mode. In short, if all horse race bettors abandoned pari-mutuel betting for fixed odds betting, the horsemen would lose money.
It is public knowledge that the average age of a dedicated horse bettor is 60 years old. It has been established that the main reason that young gamblers have not fully embraced horse race betting is pari-mutuel odds. The current marketing gimmick in gambling right now is to attract younger players by changing their mindset.
Even though casinos are adopting fixed odds when it comes to horse racing, they will not do away with the pari-mutuel option as a consideration for the older bettors. It is indeed a matter of killing two birds with one stone.
Apart from this new law item that gambling industry players are using to entice the younger generations to embrace, there is also another innovative tool that facilitates horse betting in NJ; exchange wagering. This means that players bet amongst their peers. It involves taking and offering bets amongst horse players although the practice appears to be fizzling out with time.
Bringing the youth on board an industry that for a long time has been associated with the older generation is not easy but leveraging social media channels is definitely going to pay off quickly in terms of time. In the meantime, leading sports betting operators like Caesars, DraftKings, PointsBet and FanDuel are open to the idea of fixed odds. They are mainly responding to the needs of their clients and the market has already shown interest in the product.
The companies that offer betting services in the US market today are also in the list of industry shareholders that have the ability to offer incentives of the same caliber like those who do not mind spending their money making predictions on team sports.
It may appear that NJ is doing all the work as concerns fixed odds, but there are reports of other states as well that are considering the same adoption. The organization to work with in making this step a reality in individual states is BetMakers that will be distributing the odds to as many racetracks as are interested. According to Darzin, the fixed odd ideology could take at least 5 years to kick off.
Final Thoughts
The push is now on for the fixed odds product to be included into the Monmouth Park Races that will happen later on in September. Well, there is first expected to be a review of emergency regulations by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement before they give it a go-ahead.
The premier race of the Monmouth Park track race, the Haskell Stakes, took place a number of weeks ago. Sincerely speaking, the year is approaching a close and the big question now is if to fuss with making fixed odds a reality now or wait to start afresh with the coming year. The market is obviously keenly looking at NJ to pioneer this step and lucky for them, they have the state machinery and goodwill to make it happen.
