February Issue Feature: Dick Day’s Vision For Racinos in Minnesota

This article appeared in the February, 2010 issue of Minnesota Poker Magazine.

Dick Day stepped down from his Senate seat to head racino effort

Dick Day, in the midst of his sixth term as a Minnesota State Senator, made a bold move in January by stepping down from his seat to lobby full time to bring slot machines to Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Park — a project Day has dubbed Racino Now.

The benefits of Day’s plan are mighty. He says adding two racinos would generate $250 million in state revenue every budget cycle (two years). Not to mention, bringing racinos to Minnesota would also create thousands of new jobs.

Sounds great, right?

Well, it’s not that easy, nor is it cut and dry or  black and white. Day began this racino battle more than a decade ago, with encouragement from a local sports media figure. He knows how steep and challenging the climb is, but he’s confident this year will be the lucky charm.

Why now?

Back in 1997, Day was approached by local sports-writing mogul, Patrick Reusse.
“He says, ‘I’ve got this great idea. Why don’t you use a casino with slot machines at Canterbury to build a baseball park,’” Day said. “I said, ‘What’s this all about?’

Day took Reusse’s advice and ran with it, but the idea was repeatedly shot down by state legislators.

“From there we waited a couple years, it didn’t pass,” Day said. “Brought it up, got beat. We waited a few years again and thought, ‘Hey, we’ll take another run.’ A lot of people said to forget about using it to build a baseball stadium. Just use it to make money and bring money into the state. And so that’s how we pitched it.

“So about every three years I’ve tried this, and all of the years we’ve got beat. The reason we thought this year would be good is because the state really needs money. The state really needs jobs. I just decided hey, I’ll up and quit my Senate seat, and I’ll spend full time and we’ll see if we can get something done.”

With Minnesota currently facing a $1.2 billion deficit in the toughest economy of the past 75 years, Day is correct. The state does need money and jobs, and if there was ever a time to think outside the box, why not now?

“Way back when, it was a no-brainer, and it’s been a no-brainer ever since,” Day said. “It’s all voluntary money. It’s people that go to the casinos. They get in their car, they go some place to gamble.”

Across the united states, there are 12 states that have racinos. According to RacinoNow.com, those racinos distributed $2.5 billion to state and local governments in 2009.

“A month ago, I got in my car and I went to Prairie Meadows in Iowa just to see what it was like from when I went there 10 years ago. You wouldn’t believe it. Now it’s got a convention center sitting next to it. They’re making money like you can’t believe, and they’re giving it back to Polk County, and senior citizen centers, and schools, you name it.”

$250 Million for Education, Health Care… and a Vikings Stadium?

Figuring out how to spend the money generated by two racinos may seem like the easy part, but it’s actually somewhat tricky. The sales pitch, both to legislators and the public, is obviously the most important step in generating momentum. And a large part of that sales pitch is deciding who benefits from the money generated.

“So now what we’re trying to do is say, OK we can do healthcare, we can build a stadium, and we can do education,” Day said. “We can do little chunks of money for a lot of different things.

“I know it’s more important to pitch it as healthcare and education. Those are both big. But what the Viking fans do is they offer the emotional base of a whole group of people that are fired up and want to get something done.”

The Vikings’ lease at the Metrodome runs out after the 2011 season, and team owner Zygi Wilf has made no secret about his desire for a new stadium. The Vikings rank near the bottom of the NFL in revenue, which may come as a surprise to some.

The problem? Legislators and tax payers are extremely hesitant to fund another stadium, especially after it took so much effort to build TCF Bank Stadium and Target Field.

“Knowing the legislators, they won’t vote to give (the Vikings) $40,” Day said.
“(The Vikings) have no place to go for revenue anymore. Hennepin County is tapped out, the city of Minneapolis doesn’t want anything to do with it, St. Paul is tapped out. Now, Anoka tried some things, and maybe that will work out, but for somebody to team up with the Vikings, there is nobody. And they’re looking around.”

So why not use racino revenue to build a new Vikings stadium? And why not use the Vikings’ need for a stadium as momentum to pass a racino bill? Seems like a perfect marriage in theory, right?

Well, there are a couple hurdles. Namely, the NFL’s apprehension when it comes to gambling, although Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley told the Star Tribune in December, “We welcome any and all viable proposals.”
Of course, the NFL would have to approve any stadium proposal that involved using gambling funds, but Day definitely plans to leave the door open.

“What we would be doing is just building them a stadium. There’d be no connection to any of the football operations or any of that. I told (Vikings team President) Mark Wilf this whole bit about the NFL and the gambling, this would not be a connection to gambling. This would be something totally different. This is just a stadium that you guys are playing in.”

Hurdles and Opposition

Day characterizes racinos as a “no-brainer.” But if everybody thought it was a no-brainer, Canterbury Park would have had slot machines ten years ago.

Moral issues

Gambling is a sore spot for many (which might be difficult for the MNPokerMag audience to fathom), so it’s hard to gauge just how big of a role the “moral police” will play in the racino push. For many of these moral questions, however, Day can provide sensible answers.

“They say addiction to gambling and whatever, and as of right now the lion’s share of all of the Gambler’s Anonymous money actually comes out of the lottery,” Day said. “We voted in horse racing, we voted in the lottery. And we take a chunk of money out of the lottery to pay for gamblers addiction.

“And my goodness, you’ve got 18 casinos in Minnesota, and when somebody says we’re going to add one, all of the sudden somebody’s going to get addicted to gambling?”

Day also says the proposed racinos will funnel even more money into Gambler’s Anonymous.
“People say, ‘Well Dick, you’re expanding gambling.’ But wait a minute. There are double the slot machines in Minnesota since I first proposed this 10 years ago. At any night there could be a semi truck backed up at the door at any of the casinos, unloading more machines. That’s expanding gambling. They’re already doing it.”

Support from legislators and Governor Pawlenty

Over the last 10 years, Day has not generated enough legislative support to push the racino bill to that next level. Many legislators shy away from going out on a limb to support something that could make them unpopular in a political sense. Others simply don’t believe in expanding gambling.

Governor Tim Pawlenty is another key figure who likely needs more convincing.

Said Pawlenty’s Deputy Chief of Staff Brian McClung, “Governor Pawlenty has stated many times publicly and privately there’s isn’t enough legislative support to pass gaming legislation and it’s also not a road he’s interested in going down again.”

Day sees things differently, and he claims Pawlenty told him face-to-face that he would indeed sign a racino bill.
“He’s a great guy,” Day said. “He threw me under the bus. He’s my good friend, but I knew what he was doing.”

Indian casinos

Adding slot machines to Canterbury and Running Aces could possibly damage the state’s relations with local Indian casinos. For instance, if Canterbury has slot machines, would it take business away from Mystic Lake? Would Running Aces’ slot machines take away from Grand Casino Mille Lacs?

Why is it a problem if the Indian casinos are unhappy? Much of it revolves around money. The Indian reservations that profit from these casinos have a plethora of money, and politicians and media organizations do not wish to upset them.

“We’re small potatoes, really,” Day said. “I tell people we wouldn’t even bother (the Indian casinos). We think Mystic Lake and Canterbury sitting side-by-side is like car dealerships. We think somebody might go to the horse races in the afternoon, go to Mystic Lake at night and put some money down, have dinner, or maybe go to a show, who knows.”

According to Day, Minnesota is the only state in the country that receives no revenue from any of its casinos.

What needs to happen?

For racinos in Minnesota to become a reality, multiple dominos must fall. The first step is spreading the word, which Day has done by appearing on KFAN radio with Paul Allen in December, and by traveling around the state talking with as many clubs and associations as possible.

The legislative session starts on Febraury 4, so Day is looking to stockpile supporters — both legislative and public — as spring approaches. Over the last 10 years, Day has certainly gained more support, but he’s scratching for more.

“We need to have people call legislators and say, ‘Hey, we’re for this. We’d like another place to go gamble.’ If it’s passed, it would be passed probably by April 1.

“We need legislators. And we need anybody that knows anybody that has an association, or a Lions Club, or rotary club, or whatever. Most people will sit and listen and think, ‘Wait a minute, why wouldn’t we want to do this?”

For Day’s bill to pass in 2010, which seems to be a longshot right now, he may also need the support of a popular, local organization.

“You can imagine what would happen if we ever parlayed this with the Vikings… If the Vikings stadium issue stays in the mix, it really helps our cause.”

Another option is to convince decision-makers to put the racino issue on the ballot and let the public vote. This would also give legislators the ability to separate themselves from the issue if they didn’t agree, for whatever reason.

“They can say, ‘Hey, the people can decide. What I’m doing is just allowing them the freedom to vote.’… If that does happen, and then all of the sudden we have education, health care, and the Viking people, we’d have a great coalition to pass the bill. I think it would go through.

“People will go vote for things if they know they can reap some benefits.”

For more information about Day’s effort to bring racinos to Minnesota, visit RacinoNow.com, and also check out the Racino Now Facebook page.