Walk into Batavia Downs and you don't necessarily hear the cash register ringing, but you can certainly hear the cha-ching of video gaming.
And it's a good thing. It turns out that harness racing may be fun to watch, but it isn't profitable for the race track.
The historic facility is again projecting a loss for living racing, but will more than make up for it off of slot machines.
"I think everybody in the harness racing industry statewide understands that without video gaming, harness racing would no longer be in existence," Michael Kane, vice-president of Western OTB, told WBTA (mp3). "You need harness racing to have video gaming. It's a cost of doing business."
Kane added, though, that Western OTB works very hard to reduce its losses in racing.
Harness racing is expected to lose $1.3 million dollars, but overall Western OTB is projected to turn $5 millions in profits, thanks to those dinging, donging, clanging, light-flashing machines on the second floor of the Down's building.
