Virgin Island approves development deal for St Thomas racetrack

The Virgin Islands Legislature has voted in favour of legislation ratifying a settlement agreement between the government and two casino management companies.

US.- The Virgin Islands 34th Legislature has narrowly voted 8-7 in favor of legislation to ratify a settlement agreement between the government and two casino management companies, Southland Gaming of the Virgin Islands and VIGL Operations LLC, which each have shown interest in the reconstruction of the Clinton E. Phipps Racetrack facility on St Thomas.

The legal dispute between the two companies began in 2016, when former governor Kenneth Mapp allowed VIGL Operations to operate video lottery terminals at St Croix’s Randall James racetrack and install another 200 at the St Thomas Clinton Phipps racetrack. 

The governor allowed this in exchange of VIGL’s commitment to remodel both tracks and run the races within. But Southland Gaming objected to the arrangement as it had exclusive rights to operate video lottery gaming in the US Virgin Islands through a Video Lottery Agreement reached in July 2003.

Litigation was recently settled out of court, spurring current governor Albert Bryan Jr. to craft a bill to ratify an agreement between the government and Southland Gaming, hoping to bring horse racing back to the Virgin Islands territory.

As reported by Virgin Islands Daily News, most senators were in support, but it was close with nearly half holding concerns the bill would uphold the 2003 Video Lottery Agreement granting exclusivity to Southland Gaming.

According to Senator Kurt Vialet: “The provisions of that exclusivity could block casino gaming in this district until 2041. That is the reality, in this bill we are ratifying a contract from 2003.”

Detractor senator Kenneth Gittens said in a press release: “Unfortunately, Bill No. 34-0224 was being pushed as the only way to resume horse racing on St. Thomas — which is simply not true. Anything that will tie this Government’s hands for two decades and involves tens of millions of dollars must be much more thoroughly vetted.”

Gittens said he had a “major concern” about the way video lottery terminals are regulated and that the agreement approved by the legislature would make it difficult for the Casino Control Commission to regulate.

“The Court has ruled officially that video lottery terminals and slot machines are exactly the same thing. Yet on St. Croix we have the Casino Control Commission overseeing these machines, an inspector regularly examining these machines and present every time money is removed,” Gittens said.

“It is a different story on St. Thomas and St. John where the video lottery terminals are much more loosely monitored under the jurisdiction of the V.I. Lottery Office. We must not have different rules for our districts when it comes to regulating gambling.”