Travelers at MIA may soon get to play the ponies before takeoff if a deal to turn a race track into a horse track can be sealed.
Miami-Dade County administrators want slot machines at the airport, but to get them they'll need horse races one way or another.
And though they'd rather have the races away from the airport, they've come up with a creative option that just might work: turn a airport parking lot into a race track.
By law, an establishment that has slots must also have horse races, though they don't have to take place at the same area. But if County officials can't find a local track to run races on, they may have to go to option B, an airport horse track.
The plan calls for turning an employee parking area into a horse track, though the area isn't zoned for horse racing.
There are many obstacles, but County officials seem to desperately want slots in the airport, which could bring in an estimated $17 million a year in revenue.
