Jeff Gural on losing money on racing at the Meadowlands

[Parked]

Sad thing is that The Meadowlands comes closer to breaking even than any other track in the USA.  Who would expect much corporate support when the breeders do so little.  We hear how much the tracks lose but never how much the BIG farms lose.  Tracks aer all in shambles and the big breeding farms are showplaces.   

[The Exporter]

Frank The Elder saw the importance of The Red Mile played in the showcasing of the top tier colts and filly's of the sport. So, he and a few others purchased the Red Mile.
The place was a big loser until recently getting the Historic Racing VLTs.
The same can be said for the Meadowlands. As much as they try, they can not succeed without slot revenue.   

[Miguel_Sanchez]

Exactly how is he supposed to run the racetrack successfully? It's a dying sport. How is he supposed to change the tragectory our industry has had for the past 20 yrs by himself? He wants handle, he wants bettors just like all of us. You have to have a product, why aren't we helping him instead of bashing him. I see him as a businessman who put up his wealth for his love of harness racing. Fine he wanted a casino, can you imagine if he received the casino. Not like Yonkers, didn't see any track in the new vision of Yonkers Raceway.

He has Jason Settlemoire and Nick Salvi butt fucking each other coming up with idiotic ideas and promotions.  who the heck wants a drag show?  he spends 5 million on fbi and five stones investigation for what? to rid his competition and settle personal scores with people he didn't like.  he's a trust fund billionaire that is a cry baby.  he can sell that lease and get all his money back in seconds but he won't - why? because he potentially bought a billion dollar casino for under 20 million and he's bitching.  gotta pay to play jeffy! no one cares!  any major casino will gladly buy that lease from you by friday you nit wit!

[jupiter]

There are no hero casinos out there who want the Meadowlands as it is, they want a casino, not a racetrack!!! Could you please explain how YOU would make the place better. Nobody gives a damn about what Jason and Nick do in their private lives. So they come up with stupid ideas, just like every other track. If you don't like the place wager and race some where else. AGAIN remember NO Meadowlands WITHOUT JEFF GURAL !!!! I don't like him but it's better than no racetrack. DEAL WITH IT

[dougie]

I think that the harness racing industry would "take a hit' if Gural sold/closed The Meadowlands. Although I think he has some "questionable" qualities as a human being, I think harness racing would not benefit if he gets out of the biz.

[COUNSELOR]

MR. GURAL HAS DONE A WONDERFUL JOB.  HE IS ESSENCE CONTROLS THE MECCA OF HARNESS RACING IN THE MOST LUCRATIVE AREA IN THE WORLD.   HE DESERVES WHAT HE HAS EARNED THROUGH HIS INVESTMENT.

NOW, INSTEAD OF CRYING THE INDUSTRY SHOULD STEP TO THE PLATE AND BUY THE MEADOWLANDS----100% !  THE CASINO AND LOCATION HAS UNBELIEVABLE VALUE AND WILL MAKE MANY WEALTHY.

MY PLAN IS SIMPLE----WORK OUT A PURCHASE AGREEMENT WITH MR. GURAL.   HIRE A QUALITY INVESTMENT BANKER ----BUILD THE PROFITABLE MODEL AND DO AN IPO WITH THE INDUSTRY CONTROLLING THE ASSET.   SOUNDS DIFFICULT BUT IT IS NOT.   THIS IS DONE EVERYDAY.   THE HOMERUN IS THE SPORTS BOOK AND THE CASINO---THE IDEA HERE IS PUT UP OR SHUT UP.   BY DOING N IPO THE MONEY COULD BE RAISED EASILY ON WALL STREET.   

I HVE NO CLUE ABOUT THE CURRENT STRUCTURE OR CURRENT INVETORS.   DUE DILIGENCE WOULD IN FACT GIVE GUIDANCE TO HOW THIS ALL COULD GET COMPLETED AND IT CAN  WHERE THERE IS WILL THERE IS A WAY !   THERE MAY ALREADY BE INVESTORS WITH VOTING RIGHTS.  NOT SURE BUT IN MY OPINION THIS IS A WAY TO REPAY MR. GURAL AS WELL AS SECURE THIS TRACK FOR THE FUTURE BY USING THE ASSET ITSELF.   

I AM SURE MANY DO NOT AGREE WITH ME BUT THIS IS THE AVENUE TO PURSUE OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF THIS TRACK AND MANY OTHER TRACKS TO INSURE THE SPORT SURVIVES.   ADDITIONALLY THE INDUSTRY WOULD GROW IF THE PROPER INVESTMENT WAS DISPLAYED TO MANY INVESTORS.   

THIS CAN BE DONE FOLKS AND THEN WE WOULD NEED TO GO TO WORK IN BUILDING THE BETTING INTEREST AND TRUTHFULLY IT CAN BE DONE.   NOT AS IT IS TODAY BUT ANOTHER WAY.  YES, I AM OLD BUT NOT FEEBLE.

[The Exporter]

In order to build a "profitable model" you may need to eliminate live harness racing as it is now. No, sir. The only investors that value harness racing would be the top owners and breeders. A scenario such as The Red Mile. 

[Harness racer]

Whoever wins the $5k betting contest there this weekend should donate it back to help Jeffie out!   

[pocketrocketwinner]

He has completely failed at landing a casino but people still say he's done a wonderful job?

[Papillon]

He has completely failed at landing a casino but people still say he's done a wonderful job?

No one can just "land a casino in NJ"

Trenton is a pay to play capital-and NJ wont allow any casinos outside atlantic city-its been 47 years now

Gural thought he could waltz in and get a casino-but knows nothing about NJ politics

so he suddenly got a dose of reality when Trenton laughed at him

[pocketrocketwinner]

No one can just "land a casino in NJ"

Trenton is a pay to play capital-and NJ wont allow any casinos outside atlantic city-its been 47 years now

Gural thought he could waltz in and get a casino-but knows nothing about NJ politics

so he suddenly got a dose of reality when Trenton laughed at him

So I ask, what exactly is so wonderful about the job Gural has done at the meadowlands?

[Papillon]

So I ask, what exactly is so wonderful about the job Gural has done at the meadowlands?

absolutely nothing is the answer

[jupiter]

They're still racing and wouldn't be if he didn't step up. that's the wonderful job he's done. He helped get a bunch of convictions for the Feds. He can not do this alone. Ya he did a terrible job, by not getting a casino, which was never going to be easy. All the players were stacked against him. AC put the wheel under him just as they have everybody else who tried.

[The Exporter]

They could not get the legislature to change the law, allowing a casino outside AC. So they did what needed to be done buy getting on the ballot for a referendum.
 That proved to be a greater disaster as he had no support in the local voters as well as state wide.
So, a casino outside AC will need the legislators in Trenton. The only thing that I can see that would put enough pressure on them is if a NYC casino had a large enough negative effect on AC.
Now, the dude is approaching 80 years old. How much longer can he be effective ?

[Harness racer]

They're still racing and wouldn't be if he didn't step up. that's the wonderful job he's done. He helped get a bunch of convictions for the Feds. He can not do this alone. Ya he did a terrible job, by not getting a casino, which was never going to be easy. All the players were stacked against him. AC put the wheel under him just as they have everybody else who tried.

I agree.  Meadowlands wouldn't be racing at all if not for him.