New bill would allow tracks, OTBs to coordinate start times
The New York Racing Association and Churchill Downs Inc. have been unable to come to terms on NYRA’s simulcast signal rights. As a result, NYRA could experience a blackout of its signal on twinspires.com, according to officials.
Both sides hold aces. Churchill Downs operates twinspires.com, the largest account-wagering site in the U.S. NYRA has the most valuable year-round signal of any single racing operator. According to the Daily Racing Form, its simulcast rate could be the highest in the nation with the exception of events like the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup. NYRA operates Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga.
But as NYRA struggles to become more profitable, CEO Chris Kay said it would seek a better rate for its simulcast signal. The association reportedly has reached new contracts with all the major signal brokers in the United States with the exception of Churchill Downs. Those contracts were reached with a “modest” increase to the signal price, an official said.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in the state are pushing legislation that would permit the state’s racetracks and off-track betting corporations to work together on race date start times and simulcasting schedules without violating antitrust statutes, reports the Blood Horse.
According to the bill’s sponsors, Senate co-leader Jeff Klein and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, the measure would help tracks and OTBs join forces to deal with reduced handle by avoiding direct competition at certain times of the day.
In a memo, the sponsors wrote, “Such joint cooperative arrangements may lead to better national market penetration of the state’s racing products and help to reduce overhead costs and competition among New York’s racing producers so that OTBs can effectively market each racetrack’s products.”
The measure covers both coordination of race start times and contracts involving the purchase or sale of their broadcasts, simulcasts, and electronic transmissions.
Only those agreements that are shown to “promote the state’s legitimate interests in advancing our local horse racing and agricultural industries would be approved,” according to the memo.
“It is arguable that some joint arrangements between competitive racetracks could pose antitrust questions. The need to preserve the state’s ailing racetracks should, however, outweigh any limited anticompetitive effects of any joint marketing or horse race production agreements,” it adds.
The legislation is pending before Pretlow’s racing committee and was approved Feb. 4 by the Senate racing panel without any debate.
