Thursday, December 16, 2010

“NY considers horse racing's future without NYC OTB” plus 2 more

“NY considers horse racing's future without NYC OTB” plus 2 more

NY considers horse racing's future without NYC OTB

Posted: 16 Dec 2010 05:25 AM PST

On Thursday December 16, 2010, 8:25 am EST

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Racing industry leaders and New York lawmakers are trying to seize the opportunity to consolidate and modernize horse racing in the panic following the closing last week of New York City Off-Tracking Betting Corp., the nation's largest betting operation.

Assembly Racing Committee Chairman J. Gary Pretlow, a Westchester Democrat, convened a hearing Wednesday to consider merging the state's five remaining upstate and Long Island off-track betting corporations into a single entity, possibly with track owners and horse breeders and owners.

Among the proposals discussed at the hearing were a statewide off-track betting TV channel, replacing corner betting parlors with more hotels and sports bars to place bets, and seeking young gamblers who would bet on races viewed on their smart phones.

As has always been the case in New York racing, however, tracks, OTBs and the horse owners and breeders can't agree on how to jump-start off-track betting or who should run a consolidated, streamlined operation.

Track owners and horse owners and breeders urged consolidation under their control so they could collect the bets while eliminating the costly OTB middle man. Off-track betting corporations said that would leave out taxpayers; OTBs are government-created entities required to provide revenue to local governments for property tax relief.

"We can't get along," said Jeff Cannizzo of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Fund. "Times have changed, and we really haven't adapted to be more efficient. If one of us fails, we all fail. We're all interconnected."

At stake, he said, are more than 35,000 jobs supported by the state racing industry under threat by offshore and illegal bookmakers, casinos and other competitors.

"Something has to be done," Pretlow said. "This infighting within this industry really has to stop."

The closing of New York City OTB after years of threats and bankruptcy is forcing the consolidation question. New York City OTB's doors closed Dec. 7, ending an operation that collected more than $750 million in horse bets a year, or about 45 percent of off-track betting statewide. Much of that betting, or handle, apparently is headed to illegal bookmakers and online bookmakers based outside the U.S., which don't provide cuts to the racing industry or governments.

Charles Hayward, president of the New York Racing Association, which operates thoroughbred tracks, urged an independent review to come up with recommendations because "there are a lot of embedded interests."

He called New York's racing industry fractured, despite having the best racing the nation.

"New York City OTB's predicament gives New York state a chance to end the Band-Aid approach," said Don Groth of the Catskill Regional OTB.

Tracks that are benefiting from lucrative video slot machines shouldn't require such large revenue distributions from OTBs because that limits the revenue sent to local governments, said John Signor of Capital OTB, based in the Albany area. Signor said only OTBs are beholden to taxpayers by law.

"The racing industry is doing very well," Signor said. "The property taxpayers need help."

Pretlow said he will continue to explore consolidation in the legislative session beginning in January.

Meanwhile, New York City's attorney is warning that with New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. trying to close permanently, its retirees face the loss of medical benefits that were reimbursed by OTB unless the state steps in.

The city cannot be called on to bail out the state's public benefit corporations, Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said. The OTB filed a motion Wednesday to withdraw its bankruptcy reorganization petition.

About 900 retirees would be affected, city officials say. Their insurance costs about $6 million a year.

Cardozo said retiree benefits could end Jan. 1.

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N.J. horse racing gets support from Trenton

Posted: 16 Dec 2010 11:16 AM PST

The odds for horse racing's survival in New Jersey got a bit better after the state Assembly passed a package of bills to help the industry.

One bill would expand the opportunities for New Jersey gamblers to bet on horse racing in local off-track parlors and while another bill would help bettors get could better odds over the Internet.

The two bills, now headed to Gov. Chris Christie's desk, were part of a package designed to buttress the state's beleaguered horse-racing industry, which has been in a decades-long decline accelerated by the rise of casino-horse tracks in neighboring states.

Meanwhile, an assemblyman who is a proponent of the horse racing industry said that a group of investors and the harness racing groups were close to reaching an agreement with the governor's office and other legislators to lease the Meadowlands race track so that racing there could begin again next month.

"We are working feverishly," said Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer, R-Ocean, son of the late legendary standardbred racing driver Stanley Dancer.

Dancer said the bills passed Monday would also help.

"The purpose of these bills is to keep the horse racing industry a self-sustaining industry without a taxpayer subsidy and without a casino subsidy," he said.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak declined to comment about the Meadowlands negotiations. He said Christie would review the bills that had passed the Legislature.

Christie's task force on gaming in New Jersey has recommended that live racing end at the Meadowlands, even though the track is considered the premiere site for harness racing.

Assemblyman John J. Burzichelli, D-Gloucester, chairman of an Assembly gaming committee, said he thought the new legislation would breath new life into an industry that has long been on the decline.

"I think there's a place for horse racing in New Jersey," he said. "And if the horse racing industry is going to contract, as some people think because of market forces, then New Jersey can't reinvent itself in the horse racing world as being a center of activity."

In the Assembly action, the bills related to horse racing were approved overwhelmingly.

One bill, which had passed the state Senate and now headed to Christie's desk, would change the rules to allow for an expansion of off-track wagering facilities, allow those facilities to obtain liquor licenses and make it more difficult for municipalities to reject plans for new betting parlors. It passed 72-1.

The Assembly also passed a bill, 73-1, which permits exchange wagering in New Jersey over the Internet. That form of wagering has become popular in England and Canada.

Under an exchange wagering system, bettors can post the odds they want to receive on a horse over the Internet, and can get those odds if someone else is willing to bet against them. Under the pari-mutuel system, bets are placed in a pool and odds are determined right up until race time depending upon how the bets are laid.

Horse racing leaders have complained that with pari-mutuel betting, gamblers often end up hurting the their own odds because large bets on a particular horse will reduce odds for the race.

That bill, which had passed the state Senate, now heads to Christie.

In other racing-related action on Monday:

Another bill allows residents from 37 other states using pari-mutuel betting to bet on New Jersey races. That bill passed the Assembly, 73-1, and now heads to the Senate.

Out-of-state residents would be able to bet through the Internet on New Jersey races. That bill passed the Assembly, 73-1, and now heads to the Senate.

Racetracks will be able to group bets from numerous races into a single pool, which would reduce the effect that large bets have on odds, under a unanimous vote by the Assembly. It had passed the Senate and now heads to Christie's desk.

Also, voters will get to decide on whether to make a change to the state Constitution and approve sports betting at Atlantic City Casinos and race tracks next November.

That proposed constitutional amendment passed both houses of the state Legislature, and does not need Christie's approval.

One problem, however: Such gaming is still barred by federal law, so sports gaming cannot take place in New Jersey unless U.S. law changes. State Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, is fighting that federal law in court.

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NY considers horse racing's future without OTB

Posted: 16 Dec 2010 06:45 AM PST

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Racing industry leaders and New York lawmakers are trying to seize the opportunity to consolidate and modernize horse racing in the panic following the closing last week of New York City Off-Tracking Betting Corp., the nation's largest betting operation. Assembly Racing Committee Chairman J. Gary Pretlow, a Westchester Democrat, convened a hearing Wednesday to consider merging the state's five ...
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