A dog track located in the Miami area has been granted a decoupling plan which will put an end to the racing activities which are currently going on. However, the Magic City Casino where this dog track is located will continue operating the slot machines and card games, which it is also well-known for.
Back in 2011, the casino operator applied for the permit known in the industry as ‘summer jai alai’ under a state law which gave permission to the two pari-mutuel operators in Miami to scrap the races with dogs and instead focus on the jai alai operations. This will also give Florida residents the chance to also lawfully wager on them. The Dade and Broward counties in Miami have the lowest betting handle in the span of 24 months.
Initially, the Florida gaming authorities dismissed the application of Magic City Casino and they have made their decision clear when the Court of Appeals gave them the order to think their decision through and decide for the opposite. This is how on Wednesday there was an approval issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The request listed by Magic City Casino will be taken into account only if the new jai alai front on is constructed on the same property.
This is the first time when the state authorities have given their permission to a track on such open terms. It will be able to decouple from racing with dogs and still hold on to the real source of income and revenue, which is the slot machines and card games of all sorts. The state of Florida is facing regular decoupling proposals which are a recurring theme in the industry. The authorities have noticed the tendency of making unsuccessful efforts to rejig the gambling market on an annual basis.
A possible reason behind this occurrence is the fact that the state is pouring millions of dollars for the regulation of dog racing in general, which is much more than the actual tax revenue the sport is able to provide. It is not a secret that less and fewer people are interested in the activity and the numbers are here to demonstrate how true this is.
However, the decision to get rid of this Magic City income source will not affect in any way the other pari-mutuel operators, which are also over the whole sport. The most recent case was the petition which was signed by many people in relation to a similar application listed by Mardi Gras Casino and Racetrack, which is located in Broward County.
