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Indiana OTB Have Few Options

INDIANA – As reported by the Indianapolis Star: "Indianapolis has been ruled out. Merrillville and Fort Wayne are already taken.

"So Indiana Downs has few places left to open an off-track betting parlor, in part because of a state law that requires the facilities to seat hundreds of people.

"State law requires that every OTB offer 400 seats and full-service fine dining to its customers. But the large betting facilities have proved difficult even for Fort Wayne, the state's second-largest city with a metropolitan area population of 502,000. Hoosier Park's Trackside OTB in Fort Wayne barely broke even in 2001, taking in $17.1 million.

"The Indiana Horse Racing Commission has denied Indiana Downs' petition to open a betting parlor in Indianapolis to compete with Hoosier Park's Downtown OTB, Trackside.

"Now some commission members say the law requiring off-track betting parlors to seat 400 people might prohibit Indiana Downs and Hoosier Park from opening facilities in smaller Indiana cities.

"… Hoosier Park can't find a good location to open a fourth OTB, the maximum allowed by state law. It currently operates betting parlors in Merrillville, Fort Wayne and Downtown Indianapolis…"

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