Racing Commission director outlines budget, warns of wagering threats to ADW revenue

Bruce Johnson, executive director of the North Dakota Racing Commission, testified before the Senate Appropriations Education and Environment Division on the commission’s budget and operations for the 2025–27 biennium.

Johnson said the commission “was established in 1987,” and described three funds the commission administers — a breeders fund, a purse fund and a promotion fund — that supplement live racing purses and support racetrack promotions and facility improvements. He told senators the commission also licenses and oversees licensing for track workers and participants and regulates pari‑mutuel wagering and multiple industry vendors.

Why it matters: Johnson told the committee the commission’s operating model depends in part on multi‑jurisdictional ADW companies that bring large…