Racetracks Might Not Push Slots

Puddester said his organization would appeal to "anyone who supports education" for financial help. He would not say how much slots supporters hope to raise for the campaign, but several advocates for the ballot measure predicted they would need at least $15 million to get their message out.

Maryland Racing Commission Chairman John B. Franzone, among those who cited the $15 million figure, said he has urged Magna officials, including the company's chairman, Frank Stronach, to help. "If Magna does not get behind the referendum, and it fails, he'll be like Jesse James around here," Franzone said. "He'll be a wanted man."

Franzone said that he does not believe a slots license is likely to be awarded to an Anne Arundel site other than Laurel Park but that he has heard those arguments from the company. "They feel they're being used as patsies, that they'll put up the money [for the campaign] and someone else will come in and get the license," Franzone said.

A bill passed in the fall calls for O'Malley to appoint three of seven members of a commission that will select sites. The presiding officers of the legislature would appoint the other four members.

The bill gives the commission little flexibility on the Worcester site, calling for a venue located within one mile of an intersection where Ocean Downs is located. Although Rickman stands to benefit if slots come to Ocean Downs, the state's plan has a potential downside for him, too.

Rickman also owns Delaware Park, a racetrack and slots facility off Interstate 95 not far past the Maryland state line. The Maryland bill would authorize a slots site off Interstate 95 in Cecil County, on the Maryland side of the line. Lawmakers included the site to appeal to Marylanders who now travel to Delaware to play slots. At the Delaware site, Rickman gets 47 percent of the slots revenue, compared with the 33 percent he would get at Ocean Downs.

Rickman said he would like to see slots legalized in Maryland to help racing. But asked whether it would ultimately benefit his financial interests, he said: "I don't know that answer to that."