On Tuesday, New Hampshire’s Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed a invoice to ban greyhound simulcasting from Jan. 1, 2027. The state joins Kansas, Colorado, and Massachusetts in not too long ago outlawing the broadcasts, through which races are streamed in real-time enabling bettors who’re removed from the racetrack to wager on races.
Greyhound racing is a dying sport within the US, with simply two venues within the nation, each in West Virginia, at the moment providing dwell racing. (Picture: Racing Queensland)
Dwell greyhound racing has been unlawful in New Hampshire since 2009, however the brand new regulation places an finish to all betting on greyhounds for good.
Presently, the racebook on the Brook in Seabrook is the one venue within the state providing simulcasting. New Hampshire carved simulcasting out of the 2009 ban as a option to shield the financial pursuits of the Brook, which was then generally known as Seabrook Greyhound Park.
Within the ensuing years, the Brook has reworked itself right into a flourishing on line casino, providing charitable gaming through sports activities betting and historic horse racing machines (HHRs). Greyhound simulcasting is now not a vital a part of its enterprise mannequin.
Connecticut Bans Dwell Racing
The transfer comes per week after Connecticut’s Democratic Governor Ned Lamont signed a invoice to ban dwell canine racing. His is the forty third state to outlaw the game.
There have been no energetic canine tracks in Connecticut because the closure of Plainfield Greyhound Park and Shoreline Star Greyhound Park in 2005, however the invoice’s supporters needed to make sure that the tracks might by no means reopen. Simulcasting stays authorized within the state.
“Canine racing is a merciless exercise and it has no place in Connecticut,” Governor Lamont stated in a press release. “It’s mindboggling to suppose that at one time individuals thought-about this a respectable sport, and I give credit score to animal advocacy teams for his or her activism that has raised consciousness concerning the abuse and excessive circumstances these canine face, resulting in bans in practically each state throughout the nation. Signing this invoice is a straightforward determination.”
‘Partitions Closing In’
The transfer represents one other nail within the coffin for a dwindling sport within the US. Dwell canine racing is now confined to simply two venues, Wheeling Island On line casino & Racetrack and Mardi Gras On line casino & Resort, each in West Virginia.
Florida, as soon as the epicenter of the game in America, discontinued greyhound racing on the finish of 2020. That’s after residents voted to alter the state structure to ban betting on the game. An amazing 69% of residents backed the modification.
Arkansas’ final observe, Southland, pulled the plug on the finish of 2022.
“The partitions are closing in on greyhound racing in the US,” Carey Theil, government director of GREY2K USA Worldwide, an advocacy group for greyhound safety, advised On line casino.org. “Betting on American canine races is down by a whopping 47% since 2019, and one state after one other is severing ties with this merciless trade.”
