OSAKA -- The economic slump isn't helping public-run gambling operations, which have also suffered declines due to poor management, lack of promotion and a disinterested younger generation.

Local governments that for years have enjoyed considerable revenue from speedboat, bicycle and horse racing are also being hard hit.

In Osaka, the Suminoe speedboat arena, the nation's leading boat racing operation in terms of attendance and betting, normally makes an annual disbursement of racing proceeds to 16 municipalities in the prefecture via the Osaka urban speedboat association.

However, sales last year plummeted to 73 billion yen, compared with 142 billion yen 10 years ago, largely the result of a steep drop in attendance. The association barely managed 300 million yen in net profits, despite cost-cutting efforts.

Rather than distributing the money to the cities, the association kept it in its reserve fund. It was the first time the association was not able to distribute racing proceeds to the municipalities.

Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, is in worse shape. Its bicycle racing operations fell 190 million yen into the red in 2000, the first loss in the city's 52-year history of public gambling.

The Kishiwada bicycling stadium has contributed about 56 billion yen to the municipality since it opened, but it is no longer the revenue generator it once was, and officials are discussing whether it should be shut down.

On Nov. 2, the decision was made to close both the Nishinomiya and Koshien bicycle stadiums in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. The stadiums, opened in 1949, are among the oldest in the country.

The Hyogo-based bicycle racing association that operated the stadiums said profits were dwindling because bicycle racing has not not caught on with with younger people, who have a much wider range of leisure activities to choose from than previous generations.

Nishinomiya Mayor Satoru Yamada, who is the administrator of the two stadiums, said the city leases the land where the stadiums stand from private landowners, and the rent has become a burden for the city.

The stadiums earned enough money in 1973 to distribute about 6.8 billion yen to the 19 cities and one town that make up the association.

However, in their last year of operations, through the end of March, a mere 1.05 billion yen is expected to be available for distribution.

Officials said the amount will be insufficient and taxpayer money will doubtlessly be needed to wrap up the stadiums' operations, including compensating employees, racers and related companies.

Kenji Kosaka, a sociology professor at Kwansei Gakuin University who has been monitoring the situation, said: "Local government officials operating the association have come up short in their management efforts. In order to reinvigorate (the stadiums), reform is necessary to reward those involved for their efforts."

Even gambling operations with an apparent edge have not been able to withstand the tide of change.

The Niigata horse racing association has enjoyed a high profile because Tokyo's central horse racing association has a racetrack in the prefecture.

In November, however, Niigata Gov. Ikuo Hirayama, who also runs the association, announced that public-run horse racing in the prefecture would cease at the end of the current fiscal year.

He explained that the prefectural government is unable to effectively promote horse racing and cannot handle a larger deficit.

The association's deficit at the time of its dissolution is expected to come to about 8 billion yen.

The Niigata Prefectural Government and the cities of Niigata, Toyosaka and Sanjo that make up the association will shoulder the burden.

Niigata officials have not made any decision on compensation for jockeys and stable workers, who are not prefectural or municipal employees.

Hirayama said the prefectural government is working to convince the people involved that the track must close, but not everyone is listening.

"We are determined to continue keeping our horses racing," said Matsuji Akamatsu, chief of the Niigata horse trainers association.

"We will band together and do our best to keep horse racing alive."