Phoenix Greyhound Park, one of three remaining dog tracks in the state, plans to shut down by the end of the year.
The Phoenix track, near Washington and 40th streets, opened in 1954 and runs live races seven days a week. The business has faced a number of challenges in recent years, including increased competition from casinos, declining revenue and dwindling visitor numbers. On-track attendance at the track dropped 14 percent last year to about 106,000 annual visitors, and has declined 56 percent since 1998, according to its annual reports.
In a letter to the Arizona Department of Racing on Thursday, track officials said the park would remain open for live racing until Dec. 19, continue to simulcast races until Dec. 31, and then shift some of its simulcast operations to Apache Greyhound Park in Apache Junction.” As you can imagine, it’s budget time for a lot of businesses, and this is our budget time,” said Phoenix Greyhound Park General Manager Dan Luciano. “Nobody’s going to be happy.”
Read the complete report in the Arizona Republic here, along with information on greyhound adoptions here.
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