Dan Adkins knows from experience that what he needs to rejuvenate Hollywood Greyhound Track is the nonstop clicking of the turnstiles.
A five-year campaign combined with $3.61 million in contributions to political action committees and politicians has put the 71-year-old track tantalizingly close to what has resuscitated racetracks throughout the country: slot machines.
With Adkins, its vice president, as its public face, Hollywood Greyhound led the effort in Broward County to persuade voters to approve slot machines, helping unite longtime competing pari-mutuels with a common voice. Hollywood Greyhound helped form Floridians for a Level Playing Field with Flagler Greyhound Track in 2000.
The campaign was a sequel to the successful 1994 push by Hollywood Greyhound's parent company, Hartman & Tyner, to get the West Virginia Legislature to approve slot machines at the state's pari-mutuels.
Broward County's pari-mutuels won voter support for slots in March, but the fight for the machines continues because the Florida Legislature failed to pass any regulations. The industry is heading to court to get the machines.
The legal battle is not the only fight Hollywood Greyhound finds itself waging. There's the continuing media campaign by animal rights groups against the greyhound industry in general. And then there's the schism over slots legislation that has developed between the track and the greyhound kennel owners, the lifeblood of the industry.
The Florida Greyhound Association wants legislation guaranteeing some of the slots revenue to boost the race winners' purses. Hollywood Greyhound Track has argued that each pari-mutuel should negotiate its own agreement with "its service providers" -- greyhound kennels, horse breeders or jai-alai players.
National Greyhound Association/Florida Greyhound Association lobbyist Jack Cory said the kennel owners fought for Amendment 4 allowing Broward and Miami-Dade voters to decide whether they want slots because they thought they would receive guaranteed purse enhancements. He said Adkins has been "arbitrary and capricious" with the association.
"He's simply trying to keep that money for himself and the track, which is unfortunately not uncommon when you are dealing with pari-mutuel facilities," Cory said. "The greed factor took over."
Throughout the campaign, Adkins said the intent of Amendment 4 was simple: Get slots at the pari-mutuels and direct some of that money to education funding statewide. Mandating that the money go anywhere else would conflict with Amendment 4, Adkins said.
"The five years along the way I've had several opponents in this battle -- some that I respect and some that I don't," he said March 31 at a House Business Regulation Committee hearing. "I never thought for one second that the opponents would end up being the proponents themselves because we can't get together and we can't reach an agreement."
Hartman & Tyner has witnessed the power of slots firsthand at their West Virginia greyhound track, Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center in suburban Charleston, Adkins said.
The number of full-time jobs at Tri-State jumped from 110 to 880 in only four years, Adkins said. The track recently completed a $26 million upgrade, adding an upscale restaurant and more machines. It also plans a new hotel. West Virginia's four racetrack casinos make up one of the state's largest industries, generating $323 million in state taxes last year.
He envisions that once Broward County's pari-mutuels establish slots, they will be transformed into entertainment destinations. To get an idea of what's to come at Hollywood Greyhound, Pompano Park Harness Track, Gulfstream Park and Dania Jai-Alai, he said, one needs only to look at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper said she would ultimately like to see a mixed-use development at Hollywood Greyhound with residential, commercial and retail on the 50-acre property. She said Hollywood Greyhound and Adkins have been "wonderful corporate partners" to the city through the years, hosting a 5K race and working with the Police Athletic League.
Adkins, 48, has been around tracks since he was 14, when he spent his summers doing odd jobs around a West Virginia thoroughbred track while his father, a police officer, did off-duty work as a technician for AutoTote Limited, one of the largest manufacturers of wagering equipment. Fascinated by the mechanics of pari-mutuel wagering, Adkins earned an engineering degree and went to work for AutoTote, traveling to racetracks nationwide. He joined Hartman & Tyner, a privately held company, in 1987.
As the company's chief operating officer, Adkins shuttles among the three tracks owned by Hartman & Tyner: Hollywood Greyhound, Tri-State and Hazel Park Harness Raceway in Michigan. He used to visit Michigan and West Virginia each twice a month, but the past two years he has cut back the travel schedule to focus on getting slots in Florida, he said.
Since the lottery, followed by the cruises to nowhere and Indian casinos, Hollywood Greyhound has seen a steady decline in both attendance and handle -- the money wagered -- Adkins said.
At its peak in the early 1980s, the track used to sell out its 4,400 open-air grandstand seats. The 800 box seats on the third and fourth floor were booked sometimes up to four months in advance. It was common for $1 million to be bet on a Friday or Saturday night, he said.
Adkins said attendance now ranges between 1,200 and 1,500 with little difference between the track's December to May racing season and the off-season. State records show that the combined live handle at Hollywood Greyhound and Flagler Greyhound Track in Miami plummeted from $51.1 million for the 1998-99 racing season to $25.3 million for the 2003-04 season.
The industry also has found itself under attack by animal rights groups who argue that the accepted common practices in greyhound racing, such as the caging of the dogs, are tantamount to animal abuse.
"In the past five years, greyhound racing has become a priority and concern for the national animal protection community," said Carey Theil, president of Grey2K USA, a greyhound protection group. "We are concerned and oppose any measures that would seek to prop up this cruel industry."
Adkins said animal rights groups have seized upon isolated incidents of greyhound abuse to prop up their cause. The dogs running at Hollywood Greyhound are treated well during and after their racing careers, he said.
Despite criticism -- whether it comes from anti-gambling forces, animal rights groups or the National Greyhound Association/ Florida Greyhound Association -- Adkins is confident that slots will prove to be a boon for the track and South Florida's economy.
"If you're interested in gaming and you can fly into an area where you have the beautiful beaches that you have [here], why would you go to Biloxi? Why would you go to Foxwoods in Connecticut? Why would you go to Las Vegas?" he asks. "There's a lot more here from an amenity standpoint for a tourist."
Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491.