BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – North Dakota’s top horse racing regulator says the state has become “an important player” in international wagering markets.
State Racing Commission Director Gunner laCour told lawmakers Tuesday that bets through the state’s 12 licensed online gambling sites are projected at $600 million this fiscal year. That’s up from $482 million in fiscal 2015.
He says bets come from as far away as Sweden and Hong Kong.
The state receives a portion of the so-called account deposit wagering operations. Taxes on those operations help fund the racing commission, racetracks and horse groups.
Lacour says the wagering operations have allowed the commission to pay its own way, without state help. He says the agency returned $457,500 to the state in the last two-year-budget cycle, or $68,000 more than it had been funded.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
