COLUMN: Jay Richards

     The future of horse race wagering in Nevada has reached a critical crossroad, and the course it travels from here may be determined by a crucial vote taken this week among the 51-race book membership of the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association.
      At issue is a new proposal to end the lengthy Nevada blackout of live TV racing from California tracks. Today marks the five-month anniversary of the simulcast boycott.
      Not only would approval of this plan end the California TV blackout in Nevada, it would also usher in an era of unlimited possibilities for greatly enhanced revenues through home TV racing in Las Vegas.
      The particulars of the simulcast blackout -- notably the dispute between the NPMA and the Thoroughbred Owners of California over simulcast fees and contract length -- have been so well-chronicled in this column that readers probably have them memorized, chapter and verse.
      To bring you up to speed on the latest developments, Ralph Siraco -- a TV producer and local radio personality -- recently devised a plan to end the blackout by bringing live California racing into Las Vegas homes via cable.
      Siraco reasoned the wagering increase through race book telephone betting accounts would provide a hefty boost in revenue for both Nevada and California racing interests.
      TOC president John Van de Kamp loves the proposal and is ready to go. NPMA executive director Don Driscoll said Siraco's business plan was "very creative and very sound."
      Siraco secured an initial one-year commitment from a Las Vegas cable TV station for a daily six-hour block of programming to televise every race live from Southern and Northern California tracks.
      The price tag for a year is just under $1 million.
      Originally, the proposal suggested the race books fund the project, recouping costs and making profits by airing commercial spots for their telephone wagering accounts.
      However, the NPMA declined to risk the money on a one-year deal, insisting the TOC reinstate Santa Anita and Del Mar's three-year contract with Nevada.
      The plan seemed dead until Vic Salerno got wind of it.
      Salerno, formerly a dentist in the affluent Los Angeles suburb of Marina Del Rey, is an entrepreneur and bookmaker whose titles include CEO of Leroy's and American Wagering, Inc.
      On Thursday, Salerno made his pitch to the NPMA membership, offering to spare the bookmakers all financial risk by funding the entire project himself.
      Leroy's would be the sole sponsor of the home TV simulcasts, promoting phone betting accounts. But every race book offering telephone wagering would figure to profit handsomely.
      Now it's up to the bookmakers to approve the deal and end the blackout, which they can do simply by voting to accept Salerno's offer.
      On Monday or Tuesday, NPMA members will receive an official ballot from Driscoll.
      They will be asked to vote on two issues:
      (1) Are they willing to approve the new simulcast and home TV contract on a one-year basis, knowing the TOC will not authorize a multi-year pact?
      (2) If so, what simulcast rate will they offer to pay Hollywood Park for its summer meeting, which opens on April 25?
      You can bet the NPMA is acutely aware of two things -- Hollywood Park is extremely unlikely to accept a rate less than the 3.5 percent Santa Anita had agreed to, and the TOC will never ratify any contract longer than one year.
      Nevada bookmakers need to accept these facts of life, approve the new simulcast/home TV plan and get back to the business of making money.
      They didn't start this fight with California, but they can end it.
      For five months, Nevada race books have been virtually empty in the afternoon. Two books, the Sahara and the Aladdin, opted to close. Overall race book handle is down about 25 percent, while the betting volume on California tracks -- long the bread and butter for Nevada bookmakers -- is down as much as 75 percent in some locations.
      The return of California simulcasts and the dawn of home TV racing promise to catapult the Nevada race book industry to all-time highs in revenue.
      Participating race books with telephone wagering accounts won't be losing a handful of players from their casinos; they'll be gaining a massive new audience and customer base from the fastest growing city in America, one whose population is estimated to double within the next decade.
      Of the 51 NPMA members, a simple majority of 26 is needed to approve home TV racing.
      You would hope at least 26 know which direction is up.
     
      Jay Richards' horse racing column is published Friday and Sunday.