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Industry witnesses urge DC to consider off-track betting and historical horse racing for recurring revenue
Summary
Legal and industry witnesses told the Committee on Human Services that a controlled, facility-based rollout of off-track betting (OTV) and historical horse racing (HHR) could generate recurring tax revenue, create jobs, and support local businesses; witnesses cited legal pathways and market estimates while urging careful statutory and regulatory design.
Industry witnesses at the May 4 Committee on Human Services hearing urged the District to study authorizing off-track betting (OTV) sites and historical horse racing (HHR) as a path to recurring revenue and local jobs. Jordan Briggs, an attorney at Ifrah Law, told the committee that federal law "does not prohibit DC from creating a framework to license OTVs and provide HHR in the district," pointing to exemptions in the Johnson Act and state examples where HHR operates under pari-mutuel frameworks.
Elise Cohen, managing member of Long Shots LLC, framed the proposal as a fiscal option during a period of budget pressure, saying that, based on comparable jurisdictions and a mature market of about 1,500 machines, these programs "could generate between 92 and 130,000,000 in annual reoccurring revenue without increasing existing taxes." She emphasized in-person, facility-based operations as a consumer-protection alternative to fully digital iGaming.
Chris Caledri of Ainsworth Game Technology and Rich Baldwin of GGHM provided technical and market perspectives. Caledri explained HHR terminals draw outcomes from an auditable database of historical races and are deployed in licensed, in-person facilities; he said these terminals "are not slot machines" and do not rely on random-number generators. Baldwin presented a larger-market projection: "a right sized HHR market could support roughly 1,500 to 2,000 terminals and generate on the order of $300,000,000 to $350,000,000 in annual gaming revenue," which at 2535% effective tax rates could translate into an estimated $80115 million in annual tax revenue.
Witnesses urged a statutory and regulatory framework that limits locations, prescribes licensing and oversight, and protects consumers. Committee Chair Matt Fruman thanked witnesses but cautioned that the council would not address HHR or OTV in the current budget process and that any authorization would require further study and legislation.
