NEWS
NYRA ADW betting up since OTB closure
Posted: Monday, January 10, 2011 11:23 AM
by Paul Post
The New York Racing Association’s phone and Internet account wagering business has gone up dramatically following New York City Off Track Betting Corp.’s closure.
Figures for the first month since OTB’s December 8 shuttering also show a 39.4% increase in live racing attendance at Aqueduct and a 16% hike in on-track handle compared with last year.
For the period December 8 to January 6, NYRA Rewards online wagering was up 42%, and NYRA Rewards telebet (phone) wagering was up 44% compared with the same time frame a year ago.
“It is still too early to draw any concrete conclusions,” NYRA Spokesman Dan Silver said. “But we are encouraged that we seem to be getting a good chunk of New York City OTB patrons through initiatives like the new Belmont Café simulcast area, the bus service that we are offering at locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens to Aqueduct, and the NYRA Rewards wagering program.”
As of January 6, NYRA has signed up 2,434 new NYRA Rewards accounts. Since December 8, these customers have accounted for 34% of the total NYRA Rewards telebet wagering and 23% of the total NYRA Rewards Internet wagering.
“So the new signups since New York City OTB’s closure have made a definite wagering impact,” Silver said.
For the week January 1 to January 6, the impact from these new customers was even greater, as they wagered 44% and 36% of NYRA Rewards phone and Internet bets, respectively.
NYRA, with cooperation from the New York State Racing and Wagering Board and the state’s five remaining off-track betting firms, has taken aggressive steps to capture some of the $750-million previously wagered with New York City OTB.
The first initiative was new bus service that began almost immediately. On December 12, Belmont Café opened for simulcast wagering. This facility is projected to handle $30-million in annual wagering that would make it one of the largest simulcast facilities in the state.
On December 15, the racing board approved a measure that lets people register online for NYRA Rewards phone and Internet betting, a move designed to improve customer convenience. On December 29, the board—with approval from the other OTBs—allowed NYRA to start showing races live on its website, instead of on a delayed basis.
That same day, NYRA secured the rights to broadcast races on the former New York City OTB cable channel.
Paul Post is a New York-based correspondent for Thoroughbred Times
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: Patricia, Staten Island, NY on January 10, 2011 at 09:09 PM
These numbers are not great, in fact, I'd bet it has maxed itself out already!! What will NYRA do next to entice customers...let them bet for a month totally free?? Give me a break-- or better yet, give us OTB employees ours jobs back, and let us start giving the state REVENUE, bot buloney!!!
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Posted by: Anthony P, Brooklyn, NY on January 10, 2011 at 06:55 PM
Glad to hear someone is benefiting from my 15 years of hard work building up O.T.B costumers. Now unemployed because of POLITICAL CORRUPTION. Wish i had my job doing what I and my fellow co-workers did BEST taking bets & making MONEY for the STATE
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