In 2023, West Virginia will be the only state left with greyhound racing. Industry opponents say a new legislative makeup could end the sport here. Proponents say it’s stronger than ever.
In 2023, West Virginia will be the only state left with Greyhound racing. Industry opponents say a new legislative makeup could end the sport here. Proponents say it’s stronger than ever.
Grey2KUSA is a non-profit dedicated to ending Greyhound racing in the United States. Executive Director Carey Thiel said after Tuesday’s vote, West Virginia anti-Greyhound racing legislators now make up a majority, and will likely reintroduce a bill to eliminate the sport.
“I would say to lawmakers who are looking at this, we believe the votes are likely there in both chambers at this point,” Theil said.
Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, is a long-standing Greyhound racing supporter. He calls Theil’s group a “propaganda machine” and has doubts about any proposed Greyhound elimination bill.
“Nobody has an idea of what the appetite would be for such legislation,” Fluharty said. “People have seen beyond his lies and misinformation and realize that this industry is thriving. It produces thousands of jobs and millions in revenue.”
Theil said the facts are not on Fluharty’s side. He said dog racing profits are down and most realized revenues go to out-of-state internet gambling outfits.
“I think the legislature should ask itself, ‘do we really want to be the last state to allow an industry that is resulting in a large number of dogs being hurt?’” Theil said.
Fluharty argued that greyhound racing profits are better than ever for a sport that he said is both humane and beneficial.
“You’ve got to look at this industry and see how many dogs who retire from racing become adopted,” Fluharty said. “It’s better than your local shelters.”
West Virginia is bound by law to support the Greyhound racing operations at two casinos, Wheeling Island in Ohio County and Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Kanawha County. Theil hopes to end an annual state subsidy of about $17 million that the Greyhound racing industry has received each year for many years.
Fluharty said the industry payments are not a subsidy. He explained that the funds come from other casino profits and are filtered by the state back to Greyhound breeders and racing operatives — with no taxpayer money involved.
The Delaware North corporation owns both West Virginia’s Greyhound tracks. Back in May, a spokesperson said patrons and profits continued on a five-year decline and the company would support legislation to run its casinos without greyhound racing.
Since 2007, West Virginia law has said state sanctioned casinos cannot operate without having horse or dog racing. A 2017 bill to eliminate the state’s role in greyhound racing was passed by the West Virginia Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Jim Justice.
Since 2007, West Virginia law has said state sanctioned casinos cannot operate without having horse or dog racing. A 2017 bill to eliminate the state’s role in greyhound racing was passed by the West Virginia Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Jim Justice.
Today, many legislators, like Del. Matt Rohrbach, R-Cabell, believes greyhound racing in West Virginia is on a quick path to extinction.
“The only thing that’s really keeping it going in the two tracks in West Virginia is the requirement that they have racing in order to have the casinos and the entertainment venues that they have,” Rohrbach said. “Given their druthers, I suspect that they would get rid of those.”
Randy Yohe
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
State law says West Virginia casinos cannot operate table games like roulette without horse or dog racing at the venue.
A company called Delaware North owns both Wheeling Island in Ohio County and Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Kanawha County, the two West Virginia venues with greyhound racing. In a statement, spokesperson Glen White cited declining revenues and patrons, and he said the corporation favors decoupling state government and dog racing, including West Virginia.
“We would support it if legislation passed that would allow us to operate the casinos without operating racing,” White said.
Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, has fought to retain greyhound racing. He said it’s a humane sport with economic benefits.
“The city of wheeling benefits directly from revenue generated here at the casino,” Weld said. “I represent the track, I represent the casino. I represent a lot of people who work at the track who work in the greyhound industry.”
Del. Dianna Graves, R-Kanawha, said even though the Mardi Gras Casino is in her backyard, West Virginia, like the rest of the states, does not belong in the dog racing business.
“What upsets me is that the government continues to get in between a business and how it runs itself. I don’t like that,” Graves said. “I think the state should be willing to turn loose of that and let casinos and the people who go there decide what the fate of casinos is going to be.”
Delaware North said it makes very little profit on live greyhound racing.
Randy Yohe
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Casino owners say the high cost of operation means very little profit for live greyhound racing.
In a statement, the corporation said, “Delaware North employs and pays about 70 employees who operate greyhound racing at the two casinos. Delaware North makes very little profit on live greyhound racing due to the high costs of its operation and limited wagering. With simulcasting, the company does make a moderate profit.”
The statewide greyhound racing and breeding industry, employing more than 1,500 people directly and indirectly, is sustained by state government intervention. A legally mandated greyhound development breeding fund pulls about $15 million a year from casino gaming profits to subsidize kennel and breeding operations.
Greyhound breeder Steve Sarras is president of the West Virginia Kennel Owners Association. He said if his dogs don’t win at the track, he doesn’t get paid, so the subsidy insures survival.
“Even though you had to feed the dogs, pay for your staff, pay for the heat, the electric, the veterinary care, all of that stuff, you just would not get any income,” Sarras said. “So the way it’s set up, there are built in safeguards to ensure that the dogs get the highest level of care.”
Randy Yohe
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Casino owners say the high cost of operation means very little profit for live greyhound racing.
The racing grandstands at Mardi Gras are nearly empty on a Wednesday evening with 30 bettors at most. Delaware North said in its statement that while losing money at the track, it does make a moderate profit from the international simulcasting of West Virginia races.
Weld said that’s where the money is.
“I think that the over the wire play is the larger part of that growth. It’s very significant growth,” he said.
Carey Theil is the Executive Director of Grey2KUSA, a national nonprofit greyhound protection organization. Theil said the corporate profit percentage from simulcasting is only 3 percent and greyhound breeders get nothing from simulcasting.
Randy Yohe
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Most of the profits from simulcast greyhound racing go to out-of-state interests, according to greyhound protection organization GREY2KUSA.
“All of those revenues stay with out-of-state gambling companies,” Theil said. “Ironically, the state subsidy program for greyhound racing in the final death throes of the industry has really become a state subsidy program that benefits these out of state enter gambling companies.”
Rohrbach said if and when the state cuts ties with the sport, it needs to be sensitive to the dogs left behind – and the jobs lost.
“I also hope that we’ll just look at a fair mechanism to decouple,” Rohrbach said. “It would probably have a timeline and some phase out. And I believe that’s exactly what happened in the other states.”
In December, the West Memphis, Arkansas greyhound racing track, also owned by Delaware North, will be the last track in America to close, other than the two in West Virginia.
The corporation worked with Arkansas kennel owners for a three-year phaseout of racing after shutting down its Florida dog tracks.
“In recent years, racing ended at Delaware North’s Daytona Beach Racing & Card Club after Florida voters approved an amendment to prohibit racing at the 11 remaining greyhound racetracks across the state,” Delaware North said in a statement. In Arkansas, we worked with kennel owners at our Southland Casino Hotel for a three-year phaseout of racing that will be completed this December. Both Delaware North and the kennel association in Arkansas wanted certainty and clarity for the future by ending live racing via an orderly process and on our own terms.”
Many live patrons at Wheeling Island and Mardi Gras, like Joe Jackfert, see the writing on the wall. Jackfert has been playing the dogs in Wheeling since the 1970’s and said he hopes to keep playing in the future.
Randy Yohe
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Some live racing patrons hope West Virginia keeps the only two greyhound racing tracks left in America, come 2023.
“If you look up greyhound in a dictionary, it says racing,” Jackfert said. That’s what these dogs are made for is racing. This is one of the finest attractions around. I can’t believe that we’re gonna be the only state to have the only two tracks left.”
Many state legislators in West Virginia believe another decoupling bill will be presented in the 2023 regular legislative session.
The state is now seeing an incredible influx of greyhounds. In the fourth and final part of our radio series, Chris Schulz goes inside the national greyhound adoption industry, with West Virginia at the epicenter of it all.
The House of Delegates has passed a bill that would effectively put an end to greyhound racing in the state, according to its opponents. Senate Bill 437 discontinues the Greyhound Breeding and Development Fund, putting about $14 million back into excess lottery revenue accounts for lawmakers to appropriate in the upcoming fiscal year. The bill was approved last week in the Senate on a 19 to 15 vote.
The fund was created by the state Legislature in 1994 and helps support greyhound racing at the state’s two racetrack casinos in Wheeling and Nitro. It’s made up of a small percentage of the money bet at table and video lottery games at those locations and helps pay breeders as well as the winnings on races.
Greyhound officials have said eliminating the fund would cut 1700 jobs in the industry.
Several delegates – mostly Democrats – spoke against the bill during a Saturday floor session, like Joe Canestraro, of Marshall County.
“All this body has done has voted to cut low hanging fruit,” Canestraro said, “Low hanging fruit under the illusion that we’re right sizing government. No, what we’re doing is we’re taking jobs and revenue from each of our districts is what we’ve done.”
Delegate Erikka Storch, of Ohio County, was the only Republican member of the body to speak in opposition to the bill. She says the entire state reaps the benefits of greyhound racing.
“All of your districts get money from the racing casinos and the Greenbrier,” Storch said, “I would imagine if you speak to your mayors and commissioners, they will tell you about their uses for this money. Based on a study in Iowa, a year after they eliminated greyhound racing, their figures dropped 20 percent. Every district in the state will feel this.”
Delegate Shawn Fluharty, a Democrat from Ohio County, pointed out the secondary jobs that cutting the greyhound fund could impact.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, House Finance Chair.
“Sarah’s Kennel’s in Wheeling; they spend $5,000 a week on food and vitamins for the greyhounds,” Fluharty noted, “Now, where do they purchase that? Tristate Kennel Supply in Brooke County. They purchase vehicles; a typical kennel truck costs $60,000. Sarah’s Kennel’s owns ten of them. Where do they purchase them? Robinson Chevrolet in Wheeling, and then driving those kennel trucks, who drives them? Employees. Up and down Route 2. How much do they pay a week in just fuel? They average around $300 a week in just fuel. How many small businesses will be impacted?”
Only four delegates spoke in support of the bill, including House Finance Chair Eric Nelson who says the industry is dying in the state and it’s time for lawmakers to make tough budgetary decisions.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to have; we ask the question of priority, and this happens to be a priority where we use a certain amount of state dollars to support a purse fund,” Nelson explained, “so the priority is, do we use this amount of money to support purses? Or do we look at our higher education and have an effect on that? Do we look at some of our health programs? The alternatives are some serious cuts to other areas that will also have serious effects on many, many citizens of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, there’s no easy decisions with this budget.”
Senate Bill 437 passed 56 to 44 and now heads back to the Senate before moving on to Governor Jim Justice for a signature.
A bill to eliminate the West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund is making its way through the House. It’s been on second reading, or the amendment stage, since Tuesday, but due to a laundry list of amendments and some heated debate, consideration was postponed until Thursday.
Senate Bill 437 eliminates the Greyhound Breeding and Development Fund, putting some $14 million back into the state’s Excess Lottery Revenue Fund to be used for appropriations by the legislature. The fund is made up of a percentage of the money from table games at the state’s two greyhound racetrack casinos in Wheeling and Nitro. The appropriations help pay for dog breeding as well as bet winnings.
The House considered one amendment to the bill Thursday, which came from Delegate Jeff Eldridge, a Democrat from Lincoln County. Rather than getting rid of the fund altogether, his amendment would instead look to another funding source to help support the state’s budget crisis – horse racing.
His amendment would take half of the money from the greyhound breeding fund and the other half from a similar fund set up for the horse racing industry. Eldridge says by doing this, it’ll keep the greyhound industry alive in the state and save some of his constituents’ jobs.
“There’s some discrepancy a’how many jobs this is, well if it’s one job in my district, I’m gonna stand up and fight for it,” Eldridge said, “and if I could offer 50 more bad amendments to this thing, I would. Everybody gets up here and stands for their district and what they stand for. If we can’t band together as a group of people to fight for your district, then we’re here for the wrong reasons.”
Officials from the greyhound racing industry estimate eliminating the fund would cost nearly 1,700 jobs in West Virginia.
House Finance Chair Delegate Eric Nelson says he understands Eldridge’s concerns, but he says the industry is dwindling and the state needs the money. He spoke against the amendment.
“Twenty years ago, the racing industry for our greyhounds, and really thoroughbreds, was thriving much greater than it is now, but over these last few years especially, there’s been a tremendous decline,” Nelson said, “and I think I stated the other day that just in Wheeling alone, how the participation at the track, as far as people attending, has gone from 900,000 twenty years ago down to less than 20 last year, or maybe it was 2013 according to study. I mean it’s very difficult times, and it’s the prioritization.”
The amendment failed on a roll call vote of 39 to 57. Senate Bill 437 will be on third reading and up for a final vote in the chamber tomorrow.
