Latest news with #OwensboroRacing&Gaming
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Floodwaters close Owensboro Racing & Gaming
Owensboro Racing & Gaming was built with at least the possibility of flooding in mind. After all, the property at the intersection of U.S. 60 and Wrights Landing Road in east Daviess County is listed as being in a floodplain area. But while the facility was built up out of the flood area, Wright's Landing Road was another matter. '(There's) nothing we can do about the road,' general manager Steve Roof said Thursday. With water creeping over Wrights Landing Road in front of the gaming facility's entrances, officials with the Churchill Downs-owned facility decided to shut down the center until the flood waters have receded. The closure of the center, which is generally open 24 hours a day, was announced Thursday morning. The practically new gaming center has only been open since February. A Churchill Downs press release says the decision to temporarily close the center 'is a measure to ensure the safety of our guests, team members and the surrounding community.' Brian Howard, executive director of the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission, said the maps for the area that were updated in 2009 and in 2024, show the property has a base flood elevation of 390 feet. Base flood elevation is the height water is expected to reach during a '100 year' flood. With the base flood elevation gauged at 390 on the property, Owensboro Racing & Gaming officials built the facility higher, Howard said. 'They built their building at 391 feet,' Howard said. Roof said he could not comment about how much it costs the facility in lost revenue to close. Roof said he did not know how long it would be before the gaming center could reopen. 'We are just trying to gauge the water on the road,' Roof said. Roof, who had been at the gaming center Thursday, said officials were not concerned about floodwater getting into the facility. 'We are built up pretty high,' Roof said. Roof said he did not know of any plans to raise Wrights Landing Road. 'Obviously, (we) don't have anything to do with the road itself,' Roof said.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill would allocate some gambling tax revenue to local governments where facilities are located
A bill filed last week in Frankfort would funnel some tax revenue collected from horse tracks and gaming centers such as Owensboro Racing & Gaming into a fund that could be used by local governments where gambling facilities are located. The bill, House Bill 782, would create the 'Pari-Mutuel Racing Local Government Support Fund,' which would be administered by the Department of Local Government. The department would regulate how cities and counties with horse tracks and gaming facilities could spend the funds they received, with an emphasis on addressing 'the social costs of problem gambling,' the bill says. Some areas where the funds could be spent include law enforcement retention; homelessness; and affordable housing. Kentucky has a state-level Problem Gambling Assistance Fund, which receives excise tax revenue from gambling and sport wagering, but not a fund for cities and counties where gambling takes place. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Al Gentry, a Louisville Democrat who is Minortiy Caucus Chair for the House Democrats. Gentry said excise tax revenue from gaming currently goes to the horse breeding industry, to the state's problem gaming fund and to the state. Under House Bill 782, a portion of the money that would normally be allocated to the state's general fund would be funneled to the local assistance fund, Gentry said. The bill would not create an additional tax or raise the excise tax rate on gaming, Gentry said. 'There's no new tax here,' Gentry said. The bill would also not impact the state's efforts to boost the horse breeding industry. Much of the excise tax revenue is earmarked for thoroughbred, standardbred, quarterhorses, Arabian, Appaloosa and paint horse development, and various horse development programs. 'It does not take money from any equine industry that receives revenue' from the tax, Gentry said. 'It simply taxes (a portion) of the money that would go to the state general fund.' The amount equal to 0.1% of all money wagered would be used to create the local government fund. Daviess County is home to Owensboro Racing & Gaming, a $100 million facility that hosts 'historic horse racing' machines and facilities for sports wagering and betting on simulcast horse racing. Historic horse racing machines, which operate based on the outcomes of past horse races, were legalized in Kentucky in 2021. 'If you look at the other states that have historic horse racing, they allocate a portion (of their excise tax revenue) to the local governments,' Gentry said. States with traditional slot machines also used a portion of tax dollars to assist local officials in areas that contain gaming facilities, Gentry said. The provisions in House Bill 782 are 'exactly what it's like in other states,' he said. Gentry said he has discussed it with Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee Chairman Rep. Matthew Koch, a Paris Republican. Gentry said given the time remaining in this year's short legislative session, he doesn't anticipate the committee will call the bill for consideration this year. The hope, Gentry said, is that lawmakers will discuss the plan during this year's legislative interim, and will be ready to take up the bill in a future session. Another bill geared toward gaming facilities is House Bill 781, which was also filed by Gentry. The bill would require tracks and facilities that host historic horse racing to train staff on how to spot signs of problem gaming, and to respond. Employees would also receive training on spotting people who may be gaming while under the influence. Information about resources to help problem gamers would be required to be posted, along with telephone numbers, and similar information would be required to be included in the gaming facility's marketing materials. Gaming facilities and horse tracks would be required to report their efforts to prevent problem gaming and steer people toward assistance. 'Why not have some preventative standards?' Gentry said.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sheriff's office creates casino unit
The Daviess County Sheriff's Office has created a unit dedicated to helping provide security at Owensboro Racing & Gaming. Sheriff Brad Youngman said the casino unit began helping provide traffic control during Wednesday's grand opening of the new gaming facility on Wrights Landing Road. The unit provides coverage for large events and for days of expected high traffic, Owensboro Racing & Gaming general manager Steve Roof said. Youngman said the idea is for deputies to be a regular presence on busy days, to augment the facility's security staff. 'We are going to have a fairly significant presence at Owensboro Racing & Gaming, at their request,' Youngman said. Sheriff's office command staff members have been planning the unit since November. Youngman said the unit is made up of deputies who have volunteered to work shifts at the casino on their days off. Deputies will be on duty while working at the casino, but considered to be working a special detail, Youngman said. Owensboro Racing & Gaming will pay deputies $65 an hour, which is the equivalent of overtime pay and contributions to benefits like deputies' retirement account, Youngman said. The arrangement is similar to what the sheriff's office does when it provides deputies to assist the Daviess County Public School Police Department at sporting events, or when deputies provide security for the ROMP Fest, Youngman said. 'It's a big request,' Youngman said. 'At times, there will be multiple deputies there to assist their security staff.' The idea is that 'we enforce the law' while the facility's security 'enforce the rules,' Youngman said. 'Security will do most of the work. They have trained security personnel on-site,' Youngman said. 'We are there to back them up, if needed.' Owensboro Racing & Gaming will only pay for deputies at the facility. If a deputy on the detail is called away to respond to a call for service away from the gaming center, the county pays the deputy's time, Youngman said. 'The casino has been very agreeable to work with us,' Youngman said, and that, 'if (deputies) need to leave, they can' to respond to county calls. The arrangement was made possible by the sheriff's office changing the deputy patrol schedule to four 10-hour days, Youngman said. 'Our new schedule allows more deputies to work out there and still enjoy a quality of life,' Youngman said. 'I'm very excited for my deputies, because they'll stand to make a lot of money doing this,' Youngman said. The unit policy says a deputy must have at least one shift off between working at the gaming center and working patrol, so deputies won't work back to back patrol and casino unit shifts, Youngman said. About 25 deputies requested to be part of the unit. Deputies working the traffic detail were busy Wednesday, partly stopping people leaving the casino from going the wrong way on U.S. 60. 'We pulled over 12 people (Wednesday) that were going the wrong way,' Youngman said. The state installed new signs at the request of the sheriff's office, warning motorists about turning onto the wrong roadway, Youngman said. 'It was a pretty sleeping intersection before a couple of weeks ago,' he said.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Big Bet: Owensboro Racing & Gaming ready for grand opening
The head of Owensboro Racing & Gaming, Churchill Downs' $100 million new gaming facility in east Daviess County, is ready for its grand opening Wednesday. Steve Roof, Owensboro Racing & Gaming's general manager, said Monday the 77,500 square-foot facility will have its grand opening at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Roof took reporters on a tour of the facility Monday morning, and the gaming center had a soft opening Monday afternoon. 'We've got about 600 historical horse racing games,' Roof said. Churchill Downs broke ground for the new facility, which is at the intersection of U.S. 60 East and Wright's Landing Road, in January of last year. The project came together smoothly, Roof said. 'There were about 200 construction jobs this whole last year or so, and we've got about 220 permanent jobs working here,' Roof said. 'We've had a lot of people from corporate involved handling a lot of the construction side, a lot of the IT side. There were lots of hands from different people,' Roof said. 'Thankfully, we've got a strong organization. 'It has been relatively easy, much easier than I thought,' Roof said. The facility includes a sports betting section, a bar area, a stage and two restaurants — The Starting Gate and The Track Kitchen — in the nonsmoking potion. The building can accommodate 2,900 people at the same time, Roof said. The building is divided into nonsmoking and smoking sections, with 350 gaming machines in the nonsmoking area and 250 machines in the smoking area, Roof said. The smoking area is separated from the nonsmoking area by a vestibule, and the area is designed to keep smoke from escaping into the nonsmoking section, Roof said. 'All of the smoke is going to be contained,' Roof said. The business has Owensboro touches, such as bourbon barrel decorations from Green River Distillery, and has a specialty beer that will be on-tap from Brew Bridge, Roof said. 'We are trying to work with different people in the community' and different organizations, Roof said. 'We are trying to make sure we in the community and working with the community.' Proceeds from Monday's gaming went to the Opportunity Center of Owensboro, which provides training and support to people with disabilities, and to Fight Like A Dozer. Roof said Fight Like A Dozer assists families of children with pediatric cancer by providing rent and mortgage payments. 'My seven year-old grandson, when he was 18 months old, found out he had testicular cancer,' Roof said. 'I know the toll it takes on a family.' Having financial support while dealing with pediatric cancer 'definitely helps folks,' Roof said. The facility is an important part of Churchill Downs' corporate strategy, Roof said. Churchill Downs is predominately known for horse racing, and facilities like Owensboro Racing & Gaming play a role in supporting the racing industry, Roof said. 'It's very important to the business model,' Roof said. 'A lot of the proceeds from the gaming, the tax dollars go back into horse racing purse accounts, so Ellis Park, Churchill Downs and different places can have better purses for horses. 'It's growing the horse racing industry,' Roof said. Events like the Kentucky Derby, and horse racing, are 'our bread and butter,' so proceeds from the gaming center allows Churchill 'to continue to grow the horse racing business in the state of Kentucky.' Managing Churchill Downs' news gaming facility is a bit of a homecoming, Roof said. 'I'm from Paducah, but I came to Owensboro August of '85 and started college at Kentucky Wesleyan,' Roof said. 'I graduated a proud Kentucky Wesleyan graduate. 'Kentucky Wesleyan, Owensboro and Daviess County are all pretty special to us,' Roof said. 'I kind of consider it our second home.'
