Hollywood Park, fighting the declining economy and an Advance Deposit
Wagering (ADW) dispute which curtailed wagering by players residing outside of
California for 17 racing days, finished its 40-day fall meet on Sunday with
declines across the board in attendance and handle.
Overall, handle averaged $8.9 million, down 18.3 percent from the figure of
$10.9 million during a 32-day meeting in 2007. The on-track average of $1.05
million was down 21.6 percent from the average of $1.3 million in 2007. On-track
attendance fell 12 percent to 4,353, compared to 4,944 in 2007. The ADW average
for the meeting of $1.4 million was down 22.8 percent, but it improved
dramatically following the settlement, rising to $1.6 million daily from
$993,320. For the 23 racing days after the ADW situation was resolved, total
handle averaged $9.3 million, down 15.2 percent from 2007.
“Although we came close during our summer meeting to matching our
record-setting meeting of 2007, we ran into a double whammy in the fall with the
poor economy and an unexpected ADW standoff,” track president Jack Liebau said.
“The ADW average handle was down more than 43 percent from 2007 during the first
17 days of the meeting when players residing outside of California could not bet
on Hollywood Park races.
“The decrease in business affected everyone as purses had to be cut,” Liebau
added. “The ADW average jumped more than $600,000 a day once out-of-state
wagering came back on line with the four major ADW providers in late November,
putting our figures in line with the national trend.”