MN ADW Bill, (What is it and what's the status.)

Since I received several messages from people confused about what the MN ADW bill is, how it really affects MInnesota horse people, and where it stands, here's some "meaningful" information for the over 800 followers of this site and FB page. This information is based upon asking a few questions and my perspective.

Yesterday the House Commerce Committee unanimously approved the bill and it was referred on to Civil Law and Finance committees. A meeting with a State and Local Gov't Senate Committee will take place today, and there may be another 3 or so committees to go after today.

Minnesota horse people should thank the Minnesota Racing Commission for pursuing this!

ADW stands for Advanced Deposit Wagering and providers of this function have existed for many years. They are essentially online gaming providers which let people deposit money, and then use that deposited money to wager on races across the country and world. Wagers are extracted from the ADW accounts and winnings are deposited into the accounts. Again, this has existed for many years and people utilize this function because they can wager anywhere they have internet access with all the data and ease they desire.

The ancient concepts of only on track gaming and pouring over a paper based racing form for 30 minutes between races disappeared from advanced technology gamers years ago, even though I still know a lot of old $2 bettors and MN horse folk who don't know how to use the internet effectively, or a 1980's spreadsheet for that matter.

Anyway, the MN ADW bill allows the MRC to regulate that activity and recapture some of the funds that leave our state and actually reduce simulcasting revenues in Minnesota. The "recapture" will benefit horse people and the MN breeders fund by offsetting certain administrative expenses.

So simply put, IF YOU ARE A MN HORSEPERSON, PASSAGE OF THE ADW BILL CAN ONLY BENEFIT OUR INDUSTRY, and taking the time to indicate your support to your elected representatives can only be beneficial to our MInnesota horse economy!

​Again, thanks to the MRC for their efforts in this regard.