Fla. Stat. § 550.002 — Florida Code / Title XXXIII / Chapter 550 / Section 550.002
550.002 Definitions.
Status: in_force

As used in this chapter, the term:

(1) “Breaks” means the portion of a pari-mutuel pool which is computed by rounding down to the nearest multiple of 10 cents and is not distributed to the contributors or withheld by the permitholder as takeout.

(2) “Breeders’ and stallions’ awards” means financial incentives paid to encourage the agricultural industry of breeding racehorses in this state.

(3) “Broadcast” means the broadcast, transmission, simulcast, or exhibition in any medium or manner by means that may include, but are not limited to, community antenna systems that receive and retransmit television or radio signals by wire, cable, or otherwise to television or radio sets, and cable origination networks or programmers that transmit programming to community antenna televisions or closed-circuit systems by wire, cable, satellite, or otherwise.

(4) “Commission” means the Florida Gaming Control Commission.

(5) “Contributor” means a person who contributes to a pari-mutuel pool by engaging in any pari-mutuel wager pursuant to this chapter.

(6) “Current meet” or “current race meet” means the conduct of racing or games pursuant to a current year’s operating license issued by the commission.

(7) “Event” means a single contest, race, or game within a performance.

(8) “Exotic pools” means wagering pools, other than the traditional win, place, or show (1st, 2nd, or 3rd place) pools, into which a contributor can place a wager on more than one entry or on more than one race or game in the same bet and which includes, but is not limited to, daily doubles, perfectas, quinielas, quiniela daily doubles, exactas, trifectas, and Big Q pools.

(9) “Fronton” means a building or enclosure that contains a playing court with three walls designed and constructed for playing the sport of jai alai or pelota.

(10) “Full schedule of live racing or games” means, for a jai alai permitholder, the conduct of a combination of at least 100 live evening or matinee performances during the preceding year; for a permitholder who has a converted permit or filed an application on or before June 1, 1990, for a converted permit, the conduct of a combination of at least 100 live evening and matinee wagering performances during either of the 2 preceding years; for a jai alai permitholder who does not operate slot machines in its pari-mutuel facility, who has conducted at least 100 live performances per year for at least 10 years after December 31, 1992, and whose handle on live jai alai games conducted at its pari-mutuel facility has been less than $4 million per state fiscal year for at least 2 consecutive years after June 30, 1992, the conduct of a combination of at least 40 live evening or matinee performances during the preceding year; for a jai alai permitholder who operates slot machines in its pari-mutuel facility, the conduct of a combination of at least 150 performances during the preceding year; for a harness permitholder, the conduct of at least 100 live regular wagering performances during the preceding year; for a quarter horse permitholder at its facility unless an alternative schedule of at least 20 live regular wagering performances is agreed upon by the permitholder and either the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association or the horsemen’s association representing the majority of the quarter horse owners and trainers at the facility and filed with the commission along with its annual date application, in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the conduct of at least 20 regular wagering performances, in the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 fiscal years, the conduct of at least 30 live regular wagering performances, and for every fiscal year after the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the conduct of at least 40 live regular wagering performances; for a quarter horse permitholder leasing another licensed racetrack, the conduct of 160 events at the leased facility; and for a thoroughbred permitholder, the conduct of at least 40 live regular wagering performances during the preceding year. For a permitholder which is restricted by statute to certain operating periods within the year when other members of its same class of permit are authorized to operate throughout the year, the specified number of live performances which constitute a full schedule of live racing or games shall be adjusted pro rata in accordance with the relationship between its authorized operating period and the full calendar year and the resulting specified number of live performances shall constitute the full schedule of live games for such permitholder and all other permitholders of the same class within 100 air miles of such permitholder. A live performance must consist of no fewer than eight races or games conducted live for each of a minimum of three performances each week at the permitholder’s licensed facility under a single admission charge.

(11) “Guest track” means a track or fronton receiving or accepting an intertrack wager.

(12) “Handle” means the aggregate contributions to pari-mutuel pools.

(13) “Harness racing” means a type of horseracing which is limited to standardbred horses using a pacing or trotting gait in which each horse pulls a two-wheeled cart called a sulky guided by a driver.

(14) “Horserace permitholder” means any thoroughbred entity permitted under the provisions of this chapter to conduct pari-mutuel wagering meets of thoroughbred racing; any harness entity permitted under this chapter to conduct pari-mutuel wagering meets of harness racing; or any quarter horse entity permitted under this chapter to conduct pari-mutuel wagering meets of quarter horse racing.

(15) “Host track” means a track or fronton conducting a live or simulcast race or game that is the subject of an intertrack wager.

(16) “Intertrack wager” or “intertrack wagering” means a particular form of pari-mutuel wagering in which wagers are accepted at a permitted, in-state track, fronton, or pari-mutuel facility on a race or game transmitted from and performed live at, or simulcast signal rebroadcast from, another in-state pari-mutuel facility.

(17) “Jai alai” or “pelota” means a ball game of Spanish origin played on a court with three walls.

(18) “Market area” means an area within 25 miles of a permitholder’s track or fronton.

(19) “Meet” or “meeting” means the conduct of live racing or jai alai, or wagering on intertrack or simulcast events, for any stake, purse, prize, or premium.

(20) “Net pool pricing” means a method of calculating prices awarded to winning wagers relative to the contribution, net of takeouts, to a pool by each participating jurisdiction or, as applicable, site.

(21) “Operating day” means a continuous period of 24 hours starting with the beginning of the first performance of a race or game, even though the operating day may start during one calendar day and extend past midnight except that no jai alai game may commence after 1:30 a.m.

(22) “Pari-mutuel” or “pari-mutuel wagering” means a system of betting on races or games in which the winners divide the total amount bet, after deducting management expenses and taxes, in proportion to the sums they have wagered individually and with regard to the odds assigned to particular outcomes.

(23) “Pari-mutuel facility” means the grounds or property of a cardroom, racetrack, fronton, or other facility used by a licensed permitholder.

(24) “Pari-mutuel wagering pool” means the total amount wagered on a race or game for a single possible result.

(25) “Performance” means a series of events, races, or games performed consecutively under a single admission charge.

(26) “Permitholder” or “permittee” means a holder of a permit to conduct pari-mutuel wagering in this state as authorized in this chapter.

(27) “Post time” means the time set for the arrival at the starting point of the horses in a race or the beginning of a game in jai alai.

(28) “Purse” means the cash portion of the prize for which a race or game is contested.

(29) “Quarter horse” means a breed of horse developed in the western United States which is capable of high speed for a short distance and used in quarter horse racing registered with the American Quarter Horse Association.

(30) “Regular wagering” means contributions to pari-mutuel pools involving wagering on a single entry in a single race, or a single jai alai player or team in a single game, such as the win pool, the place pool, or the show pool.

(31) “Same class of races, games, or permit” means, with respect to a jai alai permitholder, jai alai games or other jai alai permitholders; with respect to a greyhound permitholder, other greyhound permitholders conducting pari-mutuel wagering; with respect to a thoroughbred permitholder, thoroughbred races or other thoroughbred permitholders; with respect to a harness permitholder, harness races or other harness permitholders; with respect to a quarter horse permitholder, quarter horse races or other quarter horse permitholders.

(32) “Simulcasting” means broadcasting events occurring live at an in-state location to an out-of-state location, or receiving at an in-state location events occurring live at an out-of-state location, by the transmittal, retransmittal, reception, and rebroadcast of television or radio signals by wire, cable, satellite, microwave, or other electrical or electronic means for receiving or rebroadcasting the events.

(33) “Standardbred horse” means a pacing or trotting horse that is used in harness racing and that has been registered as a standardbred by the United States Trotting Association or by a foreign registry whose stud book is recognized by the United States Trotting Association.

(34) “Takeout” means the percentage of the pari-mutuel pools deducted by the permitholder prior to the distribution of the pool.

(35) “Thoroughbred” means a purebred horse whose ancestry can be traced back to one of three foundation sires and whose pedigree is registered in the American Stud Book or in a foreign stud book that is recognized by the Jockey Club and the International Stud Book Committee.

(36) “Totalisator” means the computer system used to accumulate wagers, record sales, calculate payoffs, and display wagering data on a display device that is located at a pari-mutuel facility.

(37) “Ultimate equitable owner” means a natural person who, directly or indirectly, owns or controls 5 percent or more of an ownership interest in a corporation, foreign corporation, or alien business organization, regardless of whether such person owns or controls such ownership through one or more natural persons or one or more proxies, powers of attorney, nominees, corporations, associations, partnerships, trusts, joint stock companies, or other entities or devices, or any combination thereof.

(38) “Year,” for purposes of determining a full schedule of live racing, means the state fiscal year.

History: s. 3, ch. 92-348; s. 206, ch. 94-218; s. 1, ch. 94-328; s. 1, ch. 95-390; s. 1, ch. 96-364; s. 21, ch. 2000-354; s. 1, ch. 2005-288; s. 4, ch. 2009-170; ss. 4, 5, ch. 2010-29; s. 1, ch. 2021-271; s. 6, ch. 2022-7; s. 109, ch. 2023-8.