NYRA Deal Done, Tracks To Stay Open
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- February
- 13
The state Legislature and Gov. Spitzer agreed to a 25-year contract for NYRA and gave $60 million in additional revenue to smaller racetracks to help them increase revenue.
The deal means Vernon Downs near Syracuse will reopen tomorrow and Tioga Downs in the Southern Tier will stay open.
Here’s some of the details in the governor’s press release:
“This agreement ensures that racing will continue at Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga, and allows the installation of a Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) facility at Aqueduct to proceed. Additionally, Vernon Downs will be able to reopen and a shutdown of Tioga Downs will be averted …
“The length of the franchise will be 25 years. The board of the newly reconstituted New York Racing Association will include 25 members. Fourteen of the board members will be appointed by the existing NYRA Board of Directors. Eleven will be governmental appointees, seven of which will be appointed by the Governor, two of which will be appointed by the Senate Majority Leader, and two of which will be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. Among the Governor’s appointees will be one representative each from four important stakeholder groups in the racing industry: breeders, horsemen, organized labor and the OTBs …
“Every four years, a Franchise Oversight Board will evaluate NYRA’s operations to assess whether it has met certain financial and performance benchmarks. The Franchise Oversight Board will include five appointees. Three will be appointed by the Governor, one will be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one will be appointed by the Senate Majority Leader …
“Under the agreement, NYRA will relinquish all current or future claims of ownership rights for the tracks or facilities it operates. The State will advance $105 million in financial support which will be provided to assist NYRA in emerging from bankruptcy proceedings. This advance will be recouped by future VLT revenues from a new VLT facility at Aqueduct. In addition, the bill authorizes the expenditure of up to $250 million for construction of a VLT facility in the event that the State elects to operate the facility itself. These funds would also be recouped by future VLT revenues from a new VLT facility at Aqueduct.”
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 4:35 pm by Joseph Spector.
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What’s up with Bruno throwing Long Island Senators under the bus and voting with the Democrats? What does he have to gain from all of this? Anyone?