Horse racing in Hall County has a $7 million-a-year impact on the local economy.
So says an economic impact study conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bureau of Business Research.
Horse racing has a nearly $3 million local impact in Columbus and brings in nearly $30 million of out-of-state money to tracks near the Nebraska border in Lincoln, Omaha and South Sioux City.
The Nebraska Horseman's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) commissioned the study in an attempt to measure the financial impact the 73-year-old industry has on the state. It measured the impact of both on-track activity as well as off-site spending in the cities with horse racing tracks.
"This shows, in those communities where those race tracks are located, if for some reason those tracks cease to operate, you would definitely feel that economic impact being sucked out of the community," said Lynne Schuller, HBPA executive director.
She and UNL Bureau of Business Research Director Eric Thompson presented the findings at a legislative hearing on Thursday at Horsemen's Park in Omaha. Fonner Park's numbers were presented at a similar hearing Oct. 2 in Grand Island.
Schuller said the Fonner Park and Columbus studies were specific to those local economies. The studies at Omaha, Lincoln and South Sioux City, however, were "statewide" studies meant specifically to measure the amount of out-of-state dollars coming into Nebraska due to horse racing.
"A lot of the owners of the HPBA are from out of state, so they are taking their out-of-state dollars and spending them in the state of Nebraska," Schuller said. "If horse racing didn't exist in Nebraska anymore, they would simply take those dollars and spend them elsewhere."
Saving Lincoln market
The study is part and parcel to the HBPA's attempt to save the Lincoln market, which is jeopardized by the 2010 move of the Nebraska State Fair to Grand Island.
That move effectively leaves Lincoln without a horse racing track. But Schuller said Lincoln leaders are working on a plan to build a new mile-long track in Lincoln, in order to retain that city's current count of 37 live racing days in the Nebraska racing circuit.
"The way it works now is that trainers and other employees go from track to track to track and they can stay in the state," Schuller said.
If Lincoln's live racing season is lost, the racing circuit would be severely shortened, the amount of revenue available would be reduced and many folks in the horse racing industry would be forced to quit or move to another state to make a living year round, she said.
Nebraska's racing circuit currently totals 103 live race days for thoroughbreds. Grand Island has 35; Lincoln, 37; Columbus, 24; Atokad in South Sioux City, 3; and Horseman's Park in Omaha, 4.
"If the Nebraska circuit didn't exist anymore, those dollars would completely disappear from the Nebraska economy because they would be spent elsewhere," Schuller said.
But while Lincoln does not want to give up any live days, Schuller said, Fonner won't add any with the coming move of the Nebraska State Fair.
"They won't add any days from Lincoln," she said of Fonner. "They will have the exact same horse racing that they've always had.
"It's extremely expensive to do live days, and Fonner Park currently has one-third of the live days run in the state of Nebraska," Schuller said. "I really don't think it's financially feasible for them to add days.
"In horse racing, the race tracks make their money off of simulcasting because it's not so labor intensive," she said. "Live racing in Grand Island is very labor intensive. You have to hire hundreds of employees to do it, and therefore it's very expensive to put on a live meet."
Fonner Park's existing live racing season, coupled with simulcasting, creates more than 60 jobs, more than $4 million in track activity and $3 million in off-site spending. That's a total economic impact of $7.05 million.
"I was very pleasantly surprised that it was so large," Schuller said. "I knew that (Fonner) had a significant impact on the local economy in that area, but I did not realize that it would be that much."
Impact greater than $7 million
But even with a number larger than she expected, Schuller admitted $7 million is a conservative number.
"It doesn't even include the past contributions that Fonner Park has made," Schuller said. "Fonner Park has made contributions to the community and was a catalyst in the (Heartland) Events Center opening."
The study also does not include the impact from an additional 50 jobs added during the live meet itself, nor does it include any purse payouts.
Fonner Park Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Hugh Miner Jr. said the study also doesn't include all of Fonner's activities.
"In addition to the $7 million impact that racing has on our local economy, that does not include keno operations or the Heartland Events Center," Miner said. "Events at the Heartland Events Center continue to increase, and once the State Fair is operational in Grand Island and the new facilities built for the State Fair are used for other events during the year, there will be a tremendous increase in the economic impact that this community will see in the future."
Thompson estimated that horse racing brings in a lot of new visitors and dollars to Hall County. Specifically, "73 percent of visitors to Fonner Park would be from outside of Hall County or are Hall County residents that would travel elsewhere for entertainment if live racing and simulcast wagering were not available in Grand Island," his study results state.
Thompson used the IMPLAN computer program to calculate the economic impact. It's the same formula that was used to determine that the Nebraska State Fair would have a $65 million impact on the Grand Island economy.
The bottom line is that horse racing is big business.
"We're focusing on trying to save the Lincoln market, but Fonner Park is just as essential to the total picture as Lincoln is. Fonner Park is extremely important to us," Schuller said. "It just reiterates how badly we need to keep that track and the other tracks open, operational and profitable.”
