Clock Ticking for Racing Franchise in New York

The deadline for the racing franchise has been set in New York. On Friday, the Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, has said the deadline for awarding the franchise to a contender was 4 September. On that day, Spitzer said the new franchisee would be selected.

The racing franchise of the state of New York is a lucrative affair. It would mean the winner retained authority over operating racing and gaming events in the state. Currently, there are four contenders for the franchise. These are the New York Racing Association, Excelsior Racing Associates, Empire Racing, and Capital Play.

Of the four, New York Racing Association has been a strong finisher at franchise selection processes, and has been the franchisee from 1955, an astonishing 52 years. The Governor’s decision means the four contenders can think about final alignments and strategies to team up before the selection starts.

As per Spitzer’s statement, the four contenders have until 7 August to send in their updated proposals. His spokesman Paul Larrabee said one option the contenders had was to team up their partnerships. These would be reviewed first by Mr. Spitzer, and then subsequently by the Legislative Assembly of the state.

The current franchise runs out on December 31. This franchise allows the franchisee, in this case the New York Racing Association to operate three thoroughbred tracks – Saratoga, Aqueduct, and Belmont. It is not necessary that a single operator would service all the different activities there.

The franchise could be split between two or even more than two operators. One operator could be chosen to operate the racing tracks at the three centers, while another could look after the slot machines in, say, a couple of these places.

One thing Spitzer was clear about was that no new competitors would be allowed to bid for the franchise. Whatever alignments and re-alignments were to happen would now have to involve just the four current contenders.