COLLINSVILLE — Fairmount Park, the 95-year-old horseracing monitor that has been ready years for brand new income from on line casino playing and sports activities wagering, is embarking on a brand new partnership that guarantees to construct out sports activities betting, lastly reinvest within the property — and alter its title.
Within the race to supply on-line sports activities betting below Illinois’ new wagering legislation, Fairmount Park is partnering with New York-based on-line sports activities wagering agency FanDuel Group and renaming itself FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing.
“That is the primary time we’ve put our model on the general monitor,” Matt King, CEO of FanDuel Group, stated in an interview.
FanDuel, which operates wagering and on line casino playing platforms together with widespread horse monitor wagering and tv service TVG, has partnerships with different tracks and has labored with Fairmount for over a decade to supply monitor betting. However the firm’s expanded partnership will add a retail sports activities e-book — for soccer, baseball and different non-track sports activities. Fairmount and FanDuel officers additionally stated they plan a “multi-million greenback” funding within the property, however declined to reveal an actual determine.
“We’re investing broadly to revitalize the monitor itself,” King stated.
FanDuel stated it is going to work with William Stiritz and Associates to “revitalize” the monitor with “vital upgrades.” The corporate declined to launch particulars on any possession stake or different particulars of the partnership.
As a part of the settlement, FanDuel stated it additionally plans to carry again the St. Louis Derby subsequent season, funding a $250,000 purse for the horse race that hasn’t been run at Fairmount since 2006.
Fairmount’s request so as to add slot machines and different on line casino video games remains to be awaiting approval from the Illinois Gaming Board. That may very well be greater than a 12 months away, stated Melissa Helton, who took over as common supervisor of Fairmount Park this spring.
Within the meantime, the brand new FanDuel sports activities e-book will assist pull in some new enterprise, and FanDuel says it plans to spice up promoting for the monitor within the St. Louis market. Fairmount is awaiting remaining regulatory approvals on the sports activities e-book, although Helton stated they need to come quickly and permit a fast build-out of the sports activities wagering space.
“My greatest guess proper now’s we might be open in late January or early February with a view to seize every part we’d like from the Tremendous Bowl,” she stated.
Fairmount’s partnership with FanDuel, a subsidiary of British wagering and gaming large Flutter Leisure plc, will add the third sports activities e-book to Metro East following the Illinois legislature’s 2019 playing enlargement invoice:
Argosy On line casino Alton opened its sports activities e-book in March, although the coronavirus pandemic shortly shut it down and curtailed {most professional} sports activities.
FanDuel has partnered with different race tracks across the nation in addition to casinos. Although its platform is targeted on on-line playing, King stated having a bodily area the place sports activities followers collect is a “magic” you possibly can’t fully replicate on-line.
“What we’ve discovered is it’s an effective way to attach together with your customers and prospects,” he stated.
