“The industry has been analyzed and analyzed ad nauseum. We know what racing’s problems are. We just need the political will to fix them. We can’t have all this
in-fighting.”
The above quote comes courtesy of New York Assembly racing committee chairman Gary Pretlow, who made the comment Wednesday, December 15.
A report by The Saratogian explains that Pretlow's words came during an Assembly hearing about consolidating the state’s five remaining off-track betting locations in the wake of last week’s New York City OTB closure.
The article explains that during the hearing New York Racing Association President and CEO Charles Hayward said that operations have to be streamlined instead of being fractured further. He suggested bringing in an independent outside firm to make it happen.
“We’re sitting here a fractured industry in distress,” he was quoted as saying. “We’re all spending money trying to get different customers in different ways. For us to work together, it’s not going to happen. We have to act now. I think it’s going to need to be compelled by the Legislature or the executive. The racing industry in New York would be a whole lot better off.”
The report also contains a pair of video clips of an impromptu question-and-answer period Hayward had with some members of the media.
In the video clips, Hayward answers questions in regard to the recent salary increases for the NYRA Board and about the fractured state and future for New York's off-track wagering sector.
To read the article from the beginning, click here.
To go directly to the video interviews, click here.
(With files from The Saratogian)