Jim Lawson envisions a day when Ontarians will be able to walk into the corner store to place a wager on a horse race.
That day could be coming fairly soon in the estimation of the CEO of Woodbine Entertainment.
As the 62nd season of thoroughbred racing gets underway on Saturday, Lawson, tasked with shepherding Woodbine through a challenging time period as its top executive two years ago, is cautiously optimistic at the direction sports wagering could be moving in Ontario, but the 58-year-old is also keeping a keen eye on how it takes shape.
A “new momentum and a new partnership” with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has Lawson feeling good about potential changes to a system that has done more to hurt the horse racing industry than help it for a long time.
“We just have to work with OLG and the regulator to make sure these new products are ones that are thought through, and we’re working on them,” Lawson said this week. “I mentioned parlay betting and also lottery-style products on horse racing, those types of things, I think those are coming.