Thistledown racetrack to add slot machines, new gaming may add new racino in NE Ohio

CLEVELAND - By next spring, you'll have two ways to try your luck when you visit local racetracks.

First Northfield Park and now Thistledown has been cleared to add slot machines inside its racetrack. But that deal could also mean that Thistledown could be moving.

Rock Gaming announced it reached a deal with the state to bring video lottery terminals to Thistledown for a licensing fee of $50 million. The agreement also allows Rock Gaming to look at developing a new racino in Summit or Stark Counties.

According to NewsChannel5’s news partners at the Akron Beacon Journal, the deal could mean Thistledown will be relocated from North Randall in Cuyahoga County to a site near the Akron Canton Airport on the Summit-Stark county line,

No site has been settled on but it's being reported locations are being looked at on the I-77 corridor.

Thistledown, wherever it will be located, will have the same kind of machines.

If the decision is made to move Thistledown, the state will have final say on the location.