NYRA Signs Deal

In what ended up being a much longer process than originally anticipated, the New York Racing Association’s contract was renewed with the state to operate Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. The passing of the renewal gave the franchise until 2033 on their contract.

The negotiations had been long and tedious by any standards, and everyone is relieved that they are finished. The contract ends up with the racing laws being rewritten and amended so that legislators will have more oversight. It also settled the question of what would happen to the NYRA, which has been around since 1955.

This new contract will enable them to emerge from bankruptcy, and will settle the issue of the track’s ownership. The NYRA will give the title of the three racetracks to the state, and the state will give them $105 million to fulfill their financial obligations.

They will also pay for the NYRA to operate until the 4,500 slot machines come on line later this year. Once the Aqueduct has all of its slot machines online, the future of the franchise will look much healthier. Then the operator that will be chosen by the state to run the slot machines will pay them back the $105 million that they lent the NYRA.

With their contract officially ending December 31st, they have been running the tracks on two short term extensions so that they could finalize the details for the tracks. The second was to expire this week, but they were given another extension that takes them through another two weeks, ending up at March 6th.

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