Photo:
Carlos J. Calo /Eclipse Sportswire
TwinSpires, a unit of Churchill Downs Inc., sued the Michigan Gaming Control Board after the agency put an end to advance-deposit wagering in the state.
TwinSpires claims that a federal law that allows online betting should preempt Michigan authorities from shutting it down in the state, as reported by Paulick Report this week.
The board allowed its approval of ADW to lapse after the closure last year of Northville Downs, its last remaining track, as Daily Racing Form reported last week. The board ruled that state law did not allow ADW after Jan. 1 without an operating track tied to third party-operators, according to the report.
TwinSpires refused to comply with the order, according to Paulick Report, and the board suspended TwinSpires last week. The board indicated it will pursue “administrative, civil, and criminal penalties” against the company.
TwinSpires claims in its lawsuit that federal law allows betting platforms to accept interstate wagers on horse racing if they have consent from the track where the race is run, the agency in the state where the track is located and the agency in the state where the bet is accepted, according to Paulick Report.
The lawsuit says TwinSpires’s wagers are accepted in Oregon because the Oregon Racing Commission has licensed it to conduct interstate simulcasting through a hub in the state.
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