Measure offers method to manage NYC OTB
 

Legislation Would Transfer NYCOTB Operations
By Tom Precious

Legislation introduced April 2 would permit a New York state government panel to take over the operations of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. if it shuts down.

The bill, by Assembly racing committee chairman Gary Pretlow, would require NYCOTB to transfer all its wagering accounts, including telephone and internet wagering, to the state panel that oversees the finances of the New York Racing Association. The panel would then be permitted to enter into a management deal with NYRA to run those NYCOTB wagering operations.

Finally, the bill would expand the financial review powers of the Non-Profit Racing Association Oversight Board beyond NYRA to also include the NYCOTB. The panel, now headed by Robert Megna, who is Gov. David Paterson’s budget director, has sweeping powers to approve such things as contracts and certain spending.

Bills seek to avert OTB closure
By Matt Hegarty

The bill includes a provision that would transfer control of the OTB company's wagering accounts to the oversight board, opening up the possibility that the board would assign the management of those accounts to the New York Racing Association. Over the past two weeks, NYRA's lobbyists have offered to take over the corporation's Internet and telephone account-wagering operations, but that offer has been rejected by Gov. David Paterson.

A NYRA official who has been close to the lobbying effort said that management of the telephone and Internet betting accounts would mitigate any negative impact of the OTB's closure on April 11 while also giving NYRA an additional revenue stream to address its own financial problems. "If all they did was graft the phone and Internet wagering to us, and let the parlors sort themselves out over the next six months, we'd probably be all right," the official said.