The New York Racing Association and TwinSpires, the advance-deposit wagering platform owned and operated by Churchill Downs Inc., announced July 31 that a contractual impasse between the duo has resulted in the elimination of all NYRA content from TwinSpires, effective immediately.
Pending a contractual resolution between the two parties, pari-mutuel wagering, live video, and race replays from the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course will be unavailable to TwinSpires customers.
NYRA is seeking financial terms from TwinSpires similar to those currently in place with all national ADW platforms offering NYRA content, the company said in a release.
“The COVID-19 pandemic supercharged the shift from brick and mortar wagering to the largest national ADWs, and fundamentally changed the economics of horse racing in New York State, ” said David O’Rourke, NYRA president and CEO. “Accordingly, NYRA asked these ADWs to pay an additional source market fee of just 1% on wagers from New York, bringing that number in line or significantly lower than several other jurisdictions. Unlike their counterparts, CDI has refused to add this source market fee to an agreement struck in 2018. As a not-for-profit responsible for growing the sport while supporting our horsemen and backstretch community, this is untenable for horse racing in New York.”
This is the second recent contractual dispute between NYRA and an ADW platform. Earlier this month, NYRA content was eliminated from FanDuel Racing wagering platforms late in the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet at Aqueduct Racetrack. They came to terms days later, shortly before the start of the Saratoga meet.
“Following NYRA’s disturbing recent pattern of demanding significant new economics from ADWs for no additional value in return, NYRA has elected to terminate TwinSpires’ access to its Saratoga signal today,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI, in a company statement. “While we hope to resolve this dispute quickly and amicably, make no mistake that we will continue to advocate for and invest in our customers and this industry, NYRA’s reckless pattern reflects an increasingly misguided understanding of how to best serve the racing industry in New York. Their actions are bad for horse racing and negatively impact our fans.”
