Florida may try again to 'decouple' live racing requirement and horse track gambling

Florida may try again to ‘decouple’ live racing requirement and horse track gambling

Posted by author February 21, 2025 Gambling

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Splitting slot machines from horse racing may help struggling horse tracks but also could devastate the horse industry.

A Florida bill proposes removing the requirement for horse tracks to run live racing to offer other gambling.
Proponents argue it offers flexibility for tracks and promotes investment, while opponents fear it threatens the horse racing industry and local economies.
Concerns exist that ‘decoupling’ could lead to the sale of valuable gaming licenses to out-of-state interests.

A bill that would allow horse tracks more freedom to offer gambling without depending on racing horses is advancing in the Florida House of Representatives – but not without some pushback.

The bill (Thoroughbred Permitholders, HB 105) would affect the two remaining active horse tracks in Florida: Hallandale Beach’s Gulfstream Park, which has slots and electronic table games; and Tampa Bay Downs, which has a 25-table poker room.

Current law says a track must host at least 40 events a year to have a state gambling license. The bill to delete that requirement cleared the first of its two committees on a 12-4 vote earlier this month.

What are known as “decoupling” bills have been filed in the Legislature in recent years. Splitting slot machines from horse racing may help struggling horse tracks but also could devastate the horse industry, which needs the racing requirement to stay afloat. Even so, betting on thoroughbred horse racing last year declined for its third year straight.

Some local economies in Florida, such as Marion County, depend on the thoroughbred horse industry. The county has 35% of Florida’s horses and 46% of thoroughbreds, and Florida ranks as the third largest equine state in the U.S., according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The sponsor of this year’s bill – state Rep. Adam Anderson, R-Palm Harbor – said while the tracks don’t plan on stopping races altogether, removing the requirement of live racing will give tracks more flexibility.

“We’re removing this burdensome anti-business policy, giving tracks the ability to do what they want with unused land as an example, or giving them better options to just execute their business plan,” Anderson told the USA TODAY Network-Florida. “The two tracks that operate in the state are interested in reinvesting that into their tracks.”

But horse breeders in the state and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida think decoupling will threaten the future of horse racing and remove important regulations that protect Floridians from outside interests.

“It would change the landscape of gaming in Florida,” said Talbert Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe. The tribe is one of two federally recognized tribes in Florida; the other is the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

While the Seminoles have what’s called a “gaming compact,” an agreement with the state that allows the tribe to run casinos and offer sports betting, the Miccosukee Tribe has a Class II gaming agreement with the federal government. This allows them to operate bingo-style slot machines and offer card games like poker.

“The license is the real value,” Cypress added. “They get rid of the horse racing, their gaming license becomes very valuable, and they could sell to anyone. They could sell to anybody that’s coming from out of the state.”

The Seminole Tribe of Florida does not comment on proposed legislation, spokesperson Gary Bitner told USA TODAY Network-Florida.

There are only three of these permits in Florida: Gulfstream Park Racing Association Inc. and Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred After Racing Program, Inc., which operate at Gulfstream Park in Broward County; and Tampa Bay Downs, Inc., which operates at Tampa Bay Downs in Hillsborough County.

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association has criticized the bill and founded the Thoroughbred Racing Initiative, “an industry collaboration created to fight for live horse racing in Florida and elsewhere in the United States.”

“Thoroughbred racing in Florida is under attack,” said TRI president David O’Farrell in a press release. “The bills filed in the Florida legislature threaten the future of live racing, breeding and our 33,500 jobs and $3.24 billion economic impact. This isn’t just a Florida issue; the ripple effects will impact racing and breeding nationwide.”

“For decades, Florida legislators have protected the Thoroughbred industry, but this bill prioritizes corporate interests over horsemen, breeders and our industry’s huge agri-business and tourism contributions. We must take a stand now to ensure Thoroughbred racing has a future.”

Anderson said the decoupling won’t mean tracks are going to stop racing. While the law requires only 40 races a year to hold a gaming license, Gulfstream hosts as many as 200.

The final stop for the bill is the Commerce Committee in the House before it can be heard on the floor there. The Senate version of the bill (SB 408), sponsored by Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, has not yet been heard in committee. Burgess did not respond to a request for comment.

Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.