In the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

off-track betting Off-track betting (or OTB; in British English, off-course betting) is sanctioned gambling on horse racing outside a race track. U.S. history Before the 1970s, only the state of Nevada allowed off-track betting. Off-track betting in New York was ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

is offered by five regional, government-owned corporations. As of 2014, the five operators had a total of 89 betting parlors and 5 tele-theaters around the state. They accepted a total of $558 million of bets in 2016.

Operations

Off-track betting is offered by five regional corporations. A sixth OTB corporation, serving New York City, closed down in 2010. Each corporation is a public benefit corporation, run by a board of directors who are appointed by the governments of the participating counties and cities. In addition to New York City, thirteen other counties (Allegany, Delaware, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, Onondaga, Ontario, Otsego, Saratoga, Schoharie, Tompkins, Westchester, and Yates) do not have any OTB parlors. Each of the OTB corporations accepts wagers at a number of full-service branch locations, at self-service terminals located in restaurants and bars, and by telephone and Internet. Out of each wager placed through OTB, approximately 77 percent goes into the

parimutuel Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...

pools for distribution to winning bettors. The remaining amount, known as the "takeout", is retained by the OTB operator. In addition, a surcharge of 5 or 6 percent is deducted from most payouts to winning OTB bettors. From these revenues, payments are made to the state, participating counties and cities, racetracks, and funds to support the racing industry. After the OTB's operating expenses are paid, any remaining profits are disbursed to the state and the participating counties and cities.

History

The New York State Legislature enacted its first off-track betting law in 1970, creating the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation and allowing other municipalities to establish their own OTB operations. The law was meant to curb illegal

bookmakers A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

and provide a revenue source for state and local governments. NYC OTB began taking bets in 1971. The City of

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

followed in 1972 with its own OTB operation. The current system of regional OTB corporations was enacted in 1973. OTB parlors began showing live video feeds of races (referred to as

simulcasting Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

) in 1984.

NYC OTB

The New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation covered the five boroughs of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. At its peak in the mid-1980s, it had over 150 betting parlors. City mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

attempted to privatize the corporation, and in 2001 the bid was won by Magna Entertainment and Greenwood Racing over a partnership between NYRA and

Churchill Downs Incorporated Churchill Downs Incorporated is the parent company of Churchill Downs. The company has evolved from one racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, to a multi American-state-wide, publicly traded company with racetracks, casinos and an online wagering comp ...

. However, the state legislature never approved the deal, and his successor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

cancelled the process. The corporation filed for

Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code is a chapter of the Bankruptcy in the United States, United States Bankruptcy Code, available exclusively to Municipality, municipalities and assisting them in the restructuring of their debt. On July 18, ...

in 2009, by which time it had only 66 parlors. On December 7, 2010, the New York City OTB permanently closed all of its parlors as part of its liquidation.

Regional OTBs

Capital OTB

Capital District Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation covers sixteen counties and the cities of Albany and

. It has 33 branch locations, including its flagship Clubhouse Race Book in Albany.

Catskill OTB

Catskill Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation covers ten counties in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...

and

Southern Tier The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York region of New York State, consisting of counties west of the Catskill Mountains in Delaware County and geographically situated along or very near the northern border ...

regions. As of 2022, It has ten locations at various bars, pubs and restaurants and two other branches that are currently closed. Also in 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul released a long-buried report from the Cuomo administration, accusing Catskill OTB of waste, mismanagement and hoarding of broken equipment. The New York State legislature is considering merging Catskill OTB with the more profitable Capital OTB.

Nassau OTB

Race Palace; Former Plainview (NY) Galaxie Hotel

Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation, also known as Nassau Downs, covers Nassau County. It has six branch locations, including Race Palace, its flagship teletheater in Plainview. A 2013 law authorizes the corporation to run a casino with up to 1,000 slot machines; instead of opening a casino in Nassau County, that right was licensed to

Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack locate ...

to enable an expansion of its Resorts World casino.

Suffolk OTB

Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation covers Suffolk County. It operates four branch locations, including its flagship Racing Forum teletheater in

Hauppauge Hauppauge ( ) can refer to: *Hauppauge, New York, a hamlet on Long Island in the United States *Hauppauge Computer Works, a computer component company located in Hauppauge, New York **Hauppauge MediaMVP, a network media player by Hauppauge Computer ...

. It owns and operates Jake's 58 Hotel and Casino in Islandia, under a law authorizing Suffolk OTB to run a casino with up to 1,000 slot machines. The corporation was under Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection from 2012 to 2020. Jake's 58 was opened in 2017 by

Delaware North Delaware North is a global food service and hospitality company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. The company also operates in the lodging, sporting, airport, gambling, and entertainment industries. The company employs over 55,000 people worl ...

under license from Suffolk OTB; it was purchased by the OTB corporation in 2021 for $120 million.

Western OTB

Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation covers fifteen counties in

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

and the cities of Buffalo and

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

. It has nineteen branch offices, and also owns and operates

Batavia Downs Batavia Downs is a harness racing track and casino in Batavia, New York. It is located in Genesee County between Buffalo and Rochester just off of the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90). It opened on September 20, 1940, and is the old ...

racetrack and casino.

References

{{reflist, 33em Sports betting Horse racing in New York (state) 1971 establishments in New York (state)