NYC OTB in Financial Crisis

[pointman]

The sad part is that OTB is what killed the on track attendance in the first place. Bookies losing money, has does that happen?

[Scav]

I thought Illinois politics were ridiculous. NY is COMEDY

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

where will the rasta s go.............



www. saveabluntforme.com

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by hoovesupsideyourhead

where will the rasta s go.............



www. saveabluntforme.com

LOL

They'll probably join the rest of the rastas down here in Mexico. I mean Florida.

[blackthroatedwind]

The Rastas are one of the few remaining groups of fans that still go to the track. They're way too smart to hang out at OTB.

[blackthroatedwind]

It's 6% Phil.

They're enormously profitable.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

It's 6% Phil.

They're enormously profitable.

Correction, 6%. They've had 4 straight years of operating losses though (according to Bloomberg). It almost seems unfathomable but the results are in print (they do have to publish a 10K)

[blackthroatedwind]

And if I ran a store that made enormous profits but, even though I only needed three employees, decided to hire 25 of my friends, and overpay all of them, I would " lose money " as well.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by philcski

Correction, 6%. They've had 4 straight years of operating losses though (according to Bloomberg). It almost seems unfathomable but the results are in print (they do have to publish a 10K)

Except it takes someone like Matt Hegarty to decipher what's actually in that print... NYC OTB is making money after including the city surcharge they write as an expense... Profitable by +$11 million in 2006 according to Hegarty when sifting through the filings.

Over the weekend, Hegarty and Steve Crist utterly debunked the gross fallacy announced by Bloomberg Thursday. In fact, it turns out that NYC OTB's problems can be largely traced to their own miscalculation 4 years ago when they pushed for night thoroughbred action. After lining up Mountaineer and Penn National and making a deal to stipend the harness tracks, the geniuses discovered there was little income in the TB evening sessions. Oops. Of course now they're paying a premium back to the harness tracks on business that existed before their tactical error. But somehow it's Albany's fault. I'm no fan of Albany and their inept meddling in racing, but here is one case where they are a somewhat innocent bystander.

HEGARTY: OTB finances a complex equation
http://www.drf.com/news/article/90395.html

CRIST: Bloomberg way off base on OTB (DRF Plus subscription required)
http://www.drf.com/drfNewsArticle.do?NID=90405

And for those that decry the lack of mainstream media coverage of racing? Don't decry yourselves a river. As brought up by Crist in his searing column, The NY Times, when reporting on Bloomberg's yapping Friday, included the assessment that "OTB is saddled with payments to the beleagured racing industry." That's rich. Can you imagine the nerve of the beleagured racing industry "demanding" to be paid their cut on the OTB handle that only exists because of their product? Too funny. In this case, having the mainstream media report on racing can only do more harm than good.

[philcski]

What a f*cking joke. The NYCOTB is the most corrupt, pathetic "organization" I've ever seen in my life. Let's review their business model:

* ZERO customer service
* Parlors that more resemble prison meeting rooms than an entertainment facility (half of them don't even have a place to sit)
* Zero reinvestment in facilities (a few of them just recently added WORKING TV's)
* A heinous additional takeout of up to 4% on winning bets placed in person
* Basically zero cost of doing business outside of standard labor

AND YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU CAN'T MAKE MONEY?!?!?!?

F them, shut them down and start again. They handle more money than any other wagering service in the country. There is NO REASON they should not be extremely profitable.

[Swap Fliparoo]

Originally Posted by philcski

* Parlors that more resemble prison meeting rooms than an entertainment facility (half of them don't even have a place to sit)

THAT is for sure. I don't think i've ever seen another woman in any of them. Probably because you can't sit down, and are 100% focused on not touching any surface or making eye contact with the parolees around you.