Horseplayers in the Empire State could be in for a big surprise when the calendar flips to 2016. An impasse regarding the online streaming of New York State Standardbred and Thoroughbred races could bring the practice to a halt on January 1, which could leave NYS racing fans in the dark.
As a report by The Buffalo News explains, all of the state’s track operators and Off Track Betting entities must be in unanimous agreement on an annual pact that allows the online video streaming of races from New York State.
The report explains that the pact was forged after the entity known as New York City OTB shut down its operations. The pact is an effort to compensate for lost revenue and to give handicappers the ability to watch live racing online.
The article reveals that Jim Mango, the chief operating officer at Buffalo Raceway, has reluctantly taken the position that his track will not sign onto the agreement this time around unless a law is changed that would result in Buffalo Raceway getting some sort of financial relief.
The report cites Mango as saying that the position that Buffalo Raceway is taking is not meant to be an adversarial one, but that it is one that the raceway must take in order for its own survival.
“It’s not a ‘we against them’ kind of thing,” Mango said, in reference to the position his track has had to take. “I have never shown any disrespect to Batavia Downs or WROTB (the Western Region Off-Track Betting Corp.). Until Buffalo Raceway gets some kind of help in accordance with the law, I have to look out for what’s best for this company. I’m in an untenable situation here, I realize that.”
Mango went on to explain Buffalo Raceway’s decision. He stated that the track has seen its numbers fall dramatically over the course of the past two years.
“Over the last couple years, the impact on us of live in-home streaming in this region has been very severe,” he said. “We are down about 25 per cent this year after being down 15 per cent last year. For the five and a half months when Batavia is open, we don’t get one nickel – not two cents.”
(With files from The Buffalo News)