{"id":310270,"date":"2024-02-10T07:18:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-10T13:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=310270"},"modified":"2024-02-12T12:14:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T18:14:22","slug":"northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack, Closes After 80 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s<\/a> last surviving racetrack, has run its last race. The 80-year-old harness racing venue in Detroit<\/a> is expected to be demolished to make way for a $250 million mixed-development project.<\/p>\n

\"Northville
Northville Downs was packed out on its last night of racing on February 3, above, reminding regulars of the \u201cgood old days\u201d \u2013 before gambling expansion began to cripple attendance at racetracks. (Image: Eric Seals\/Detroit Free Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The closure is another nail in the coffin for horse racing in America, which was once the most popular spectator sport in the nation. More than 40 tracks have closed across the U.S. since 2000. Grandstands that were built to seat thousands now hold dozens.<\/p>\n

Only Game in Town<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But on the last day of racing at Northville, The Detroit Free Press <\/em>reported<\/a> that the stands were packed out, just like the old days.<\/p>\n

“Fifty years ago on a Saturday night, this is what it was like,” longtime regular Gordon Gillis told the Press. “It was crowded, it was crazy, it was the only game in town.”<\/p>\n

There was a time when pari-mutuel horse race betting was, literally, the only game in town \u2013 or most towns, at least. But horse racing\u2019s decline has occurred in tandem with the rise of other gambling activities<\/a> over the past few decades.<\/p>\n

\n

In recent years, Northville Downs has had to compete with Detroit\u2019s three commercial casinos. Across the state, there are 23 Native American casinos, while Michiganites also have online casinos, poker, sports betting, and internet lottery sales just a few clicks away.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the late 1960s, Michigan\u2019s racetracks were attracting 3 million visitors per year and handling $260 million in bets. The decline started with the establishment of the lottery in 1973.<\/p>\n

Negotiations Break Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Until recently, Northville Downs\u2019 owner, the Carlo family, had been in negotiations to relocate its operations by building a new harness racing facility\u00a0in Plymouth Township in Detroit\u2019s western suburbs. But negotiations broke down with Plymouth officials two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The proposal was controversial and faced local opposition. On January 23, the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees voted 6-0 to nix the plan, accusing Northville Downs of entering into \u201cbad faith negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sticking point was Plymouth\u2019s demand for a community benefit agreement to offset local concerns about gambling, animal welfare, and disruptive changes to the quiet township. Northville Downs argued the township\u2019s demands amounted to an illegal request for extra money in return for approval of the project.<\/p>\n

The Press<\/em> reported that the Carlo family is still exploring possible alternatives, meaning that live racing still has a chance of returning to Michigan. At the moment, though, it looks like a long shot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s last surviving racetrack, has run its last race. The 80-year-old harness racing venue in Detroit is expected to be demolished to make way for a $250 million mixed-development project. The closure is another nail in the coffin for horse racing in America, which was once the most popular spectator sport in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":310271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,14577],"tags":[82456,81863,89827,89828],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNorthville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack Closes After 80 Years<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Northville Downs, a harness racing track that opened in 1944, is no more, ending live racing in Michigan, for now, at least.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack Closes After 80 Years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Northville Downs, a harness racing track that opened in 1944, is no more, ending live racing in Michigan, for now, at least.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-10T13:18:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-12T18:14:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Northnville.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"665\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/\",\"name\":\"Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack Closes After 80 Years\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Northnville.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-10T13:18:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-12T18:14:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Northville Downs, a harness racing track that opened in 1944, is no more, ending live racing in Michigan, for now, at least.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Northnville.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Northnville.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":665,\"caption\":\"Northville Downs was packed out on its last night of racing on February 3, above, reminding regulars of the \u201cgood old days\u201d \u2013 before gambling expansion began to cripple attendance at racetracks. (Image: Eric Seals\/Detroit Free Press)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack, Closes After 80 Years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack Closes After 80 Years","description":"Northville Downs, a harness racing track that opened in 1944, is no more, ending live racing in Michigan, for now, at least.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack Closes After 80 Years","og_description":"Northville Downs, a harness racing track that opened in 1944, is no more, ending live racing in Michigan, for now, at least.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-02-10T13:18:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-12T18:14:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":665,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Northnville.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/","name":"Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack Closes After 80 Years","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Northnville.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-10T13:18:15+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-12T18:14:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Northville Downs, a harness racing track that opened in 1944, is no more, ending live racing in Michigan, for now, at least.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Northnville.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Northnville.jpg","width":1000,"height":665,"caption":"Northville Downs was packed out on its last night of racing on February 3, above, reminding regulars of the \u201cgood old days\u201d \u2013 before gambling expansion began to cripple attendance at racetracks. (Image: Eric Seals\/Detroit Free Press)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/northville-downs-michigans-last-racetrack-closes-after-80-years\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/commercial-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Northville Downs, Michigan\u2019s Last Racetrack, Closes After 80 Years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310270"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310270"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310420,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310270\/revisions\/310420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}