republic-os/legal/us/code/title-15/chapter-57/section-3004.md

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LegalText	15 U.S.C. § 3004	Regulation of interstate off-track wagering	us	united_states_code	code_section	15	COMMERCE AND TRADE	57	INTERSTATE HORSERACING	3004	15 U.S.C. § 3004	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc15@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t15/s3004	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-15/usc15.xml	85b96108059c8ddddf3fbbff4ae264c75c547e38c36cbeb3d1a9e3c122f5d5e7	6982338d990ef19d6b52bff6825089bdd6d0ee1233d9382673faf533decd5059	c9fd0221c6a4bacbdd57d66f8b9c0c8a608b13e00b73504f70c42d09c34cc626	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

15 U.S.C. § 3004 - Regulation of interstate off-track wagering

Text

(a) Consent of host racing association, host racing commission, and off-track racing commission as prerequisite to acceptance of wager An interstate off-track wager may be accepted by an off-track betting system only if consent is obtained from—

(1) the host racing association, except that—

(A) as a condition precedent to such consent, said racing association (except a not-for-profit racing association in a State where the distribution of off-track betting revenues in that State is set forth by law) must have a written agreement with the horsemen’s group, under which said racing association may give such consent, setting forth the terms and conditions relating thereto; provided,

(B) that where the host racing association has a contract with a horsemen’s group at the time of enactment of this chapter which contains no provisions referring to interstate off-track betting, the terms and conditions of said then-existing contract shall be deemed to apply to the interstate off-track wagers and no additional written agreement need be entered into unless the parties to such then-existing contract agree otherwise. Where such provisions exist in such existing contract, such contract shall govern. Where written consents exist at the time of enactment of this chapter between an off-track betting system and the host racing association providing for interstate off-track wagers, or such written consents are executed by these parties prior to the expiration of such then-existing contract, upon the expiration of such then-existing contract the written agreement of such horsemen’s group shall thereafter be required as such condition precedent and as a part of the regular contractual process, and may not be withdrawn or varied except in the regular contractual process. Where no such written consent exists, and where such written agreement occurs at a racing association which has a regular contractual process with such horsemen’s group, said agreement by the horsemen’s group may not be withdrawn or varied except in the regular contractual process;

(2) the host racing commission;

(3) the off-track racing commission.

(b) Approval of tracks as prerequisite to acceptance of wager; exceptions (1) In addition to the requirement of subsection (a), any off-track betting office shall obtain the approval of—

(A) all currently operating tracks within 60 miles of such off-track betting office; and

(B) if there are no currently operating tracks within 60 miles then the closest currently operating track in an adjoining State.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection, any off-track betting office in a State with at least 250 days of on-track parimutuel horseracing a year, may accept interstate off-track wagers for a total of 60 racing days and 25 special events a year without the approval required by paragraph (1), if with respect to such 60 racing days, there is no racing of the same type at the same time of day being conducted within the off-track betting State within 60 miles of the off-track betting office accepting the wager, or such racing program cannot be completed. Excluded from such 60 days and from the consent required by subsection (b)(1) may be dark days which occur during a regularly scheduled race meeting in said off-track betting State. In order to accept any interstate off-track wager under the terms of the preceding sentence the off-track betting office shall make identical offers to any racing association described in subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(1). Nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to reduce or eliminate the necessity of obtaining all the approvals required by subsection (a).

(c) Takeout amount No parimutuel off-track betting system may employ a takeout for an interstate wager which is greater than the takeout for corresponding wagering pools of off-track wagers on races run within the off-track State except where such greater takeout is authorized by State law in the off-track State.

(Pub. L. 95–515, § 5, Oct. 25, 1978, 92 Stat. 1813.)