NYSRWB policy on streaming video

[horses721]

The New York wagering board has opened up and allowed several companies to wager on their races this year which was a good idea. As always, when something good is done something moronic follows. Despite allowing more ADW's to take wagers on New York races, they won't allow these internet compaines to show the streaming video. I know I always enjoy wagering on a product I can't see???? If you are one of those people that can wager but not watch the video of the races, here is the NY state wagering boards email address.

info@racing.state.ny.us

Let them know that if you can't watch the video over the internet, you won't bet their races. I guess they don't understand that there are many people that don't get offered HRTV or TVG into their homes.

[shanta]

Thanks for the link "Horses". I just sent this and will resend a couple of dozen more times:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I do not have access to Tvg or Hrtv.

Can you PLEASE provide video streams for the Nyra races on Twinspires Adw. PLEASE

I’m really not into betting money on races I cannot watch.

You did good by opening up your signal to more outlets. Don’t blow it by not providing video to those outlets online where folks bet.

Richard Pizzicara
New Rochelle, N.Y.

[Tom]

I sent this one a few hundred time today....



Dear ********

***** You.

HAND

[shanta]

Thanks for the link "Horses". I just sent this and will resend a couple of dozen more times:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I do not have access to Tvg or Hrtv.

Can you PLEASE provide video streams for the Nyra races on Twinspires Adw. PLEASE

I’m really not into betting money on races I cannot watch.

You did good by opening up your signal to more outlets. Don’t blow it by not providing video to those outlets online where folks bet.

Richard Pizzicara
New Rochelle, N.Y.

Just received this reply man:


Please be advised that the Board’s actions are consistent with the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding law as it relates to online video of races. More specifically Section 1003 (a). Section 1003 (a) as it relates to your inquiry is provided for below.

§ 1003. Licenses for simulcast facilities. 1. (a) Any racing
association or corporation or regional off-track betting corporation,
authorized to conduct pari-mutuel wagering under this chapter, desiring
to display the simulcast of horse races on which pari-mutuel betting
shall be permitted in the manner and subject to the conditions provided
for in this article may apply to the board for a license so to do.
Applications for licenses shall be in such form as may be prescribed by
the board and shall contain such information or other material or
evidence as the board may require. No license shall be issued by the
board authorizing the simulcast transmission of thoroughbred races from
a track located in Suffolk county. The fee for such licenses shall be
five hundred dollars per simulcast facility per year payable by the
licensee to the board for deposit into the general fund. Except as
provided herein, the board shall not approve any application to conduct
simulcasting into individual or group residences, homes or other areas
for the purposes of or in connection with pari-mutuel wagering. The
board may approve simulcasting into residences, homes or other areas to
be conducted jointly by one or more regional off-track betting
corporations and one or more of the following: a non-profit racing
association, a thoroughbred racing corporation or association or a
harness racing corporation or association; provided (i) the simulcasting
consists only of those races on which pari-mutuel betting is authorized
by this chapter at one or more simulcast facilities for each of the
contracting off-track betting corporations which shall include wagers
made in accordance with section one thousand sixteen, one thousand
seventeen and one thousand seventeen-a of this chapter; provided further
that the contract provisions or other simulcast arrangements for such
simulcast facility shall be no less favorable than those in effect on
January first, two thousand five; (ii) that each off-track betting
corporation having within its geographic boundaries such residences,
homes or other areas technically capable of receiving the simulcast
signal shall be a contracting party; (iii) the distribution of revenues
shall be subject to contractual agreement of the parties except that
statutory payments to non-contracting parties, if any, may not be
reduced; provided, however, that nothing herein to the contrary shall
prevent a track from televising its races on an irregular basis
primarily for promotional or marketing purposes as found by the board.
For purposes of this paragraph, the provisions of section one thousand
thirteen of this article shall not apply. Any agreement authorizing an
in-home simulcasting experiment commencing prior to May fifteenth,
nineteen hundred ninety-five, may, and all its terms, be extended until
June thirtieth, two thousand eight; provided, however, that any party to
such agreement may elect to terminate such agreement upon conveying
written notice to all other parties of such agreement at least
forty-five days prior to the effective date of the termination, via
registered mail. Any party to an agreement receiving such notice of an
intent to terminate, may request the board to mediate between the
parties new terms and conditions in a replacement agreement between the
parties as will permit continuation of an in-home experiment until June
thirtieth, two thousand eight; and (iv) no in-home simulcasting in the
thoroughbred special betting district shall occur without the approval
of the regional thoroughbred track.
(b) Any agreement authorizing in-home simulcasting pursuant to this
section shall be in writing, and upon written request, a copy shall be
provided to the representative horsemen's group of the racing
association or corporation that is party to said agreement. Such
agreement shall include a categorical statement of new and incremental
expenses directly related and attributable to the conduct of in-home
simulcasting. The representative horsemen's group may, within thirty
days of receiving the agreement, petition the board for a determination
as to the appropriateness and reasonableness of any expenses attributed
by either the racing association or corporation or the off-track betting
corporation.

[shanta]

"Ass Backwards" at work again

[horses721]

I got the same excuse from the New York racing wagering board. They give me the same excuse about section 1003. I hope you and others will continue to let them know you will not bet New York racing until this policy, which is not written in stone, changes. My only fear is that so many of us complain about the cutomer is ignored in horse racing yet we keep coming back and giving them our money. I won't bet New York until they change this policy and allow all ADW's access to their wagering AND the streaming video at the same time.

I call on all horse players to contact the NY wagering board.
info@racing.state.ny.us
Some of you can wager AND see the live video of the races. Those of us that can't are screwed. They will take our money but they won't give us the common courtesy to show us live video of the race The reason customer service is so lousy FOR ALL OF US is because we don't stick together. I ask all of you to let them know their policy is WRONG and very CUSTOMER UNFRIENDLY. Unless we stick together, we have no chance of correcting customer service in an industry that hasn't cared about the customer since????? When did they care about the customer?

[trying2win]

Horses and Shanta:

Thanks for the info. The return email that Shanta got, looks like a bunch of gobbledegook prepared by some high-priced lawyer. Why doesn't the sender of the email to Shanta, just write in layman's language. The excuses given why they can't allow streaming video to be offered by some ADWS, in my opinion are 'REASONS THAT SOUND GOOD'...not 'GOOD SOUND REASONS'.

Yup! Time for fans of New York racing to complain loudly again. Speak up like a Glenn Beck. Let the NYSRWB know what you think of their streaming video policy. There's no excuse for bad service!


T2W

[shanta]

After writing them to change the dumb ass law I received the following email reply from a Daniel Toomey with Nys racing:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The NYS Racing and Wagering Board can not change the law. We are mandated to carry out the law as passed by the NYS Legislature and the Governor. You should contact your local Assemblyperson or State Senator if you have concerns with the current law.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[samyn on the green]

Some of the NY OTBs have their own internet ADW operation. This law protects OTB by not allowing those using a AWD other than OTB to watch the video. It is the "betty but to watchy" clause, it protects many OTB patronage jobs.

The
board may approve simulcasting into residences, homes or other areas to
be conducted jointly by one or more regional off-track betting
corporations and one or more of the following: a non-profit racing
association, a thoroughbred racing corporation or association or a
harness racing corporation or association;

[samyn on the green]

I wrote to my Assemblyman and State Senator as well. Every New York resident on this board lives in a democracy, for the privilege of living in a democracy there is responsibility. It is essential that citizens exercise their responsibility and hold their elected officials accountable for their actions. If there is enough pressure laws providing protection for OTB corruption can be changed.

here is the link to find your NY state assemblyman/Senator so you can write

http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

http://www.senate.state.ny.us/sdlookup.nsf/Public_search?OpenForm



Here is my letter if you do not want to reinvent the wheel

This is regarding the NYRA horse racing franchise. The law in question is called section 1003 regarding simulcasting of races. The law allows wagering providers to offer wagering on New York races but does not allow these wagering companies to offer video.

20 billion dollars was wagered on races last year and the most popular of those racing signals was the New York NYRA signal. While the growth of wagering is somewhat stagnant the internet advance deposit wagering segment of the industry has experienced explosive growth. By limiting access to video of New York racing, New York state is reducing the appeal of the NYRA signal in the completive simulcast market. People do not want to bet on races they can not watch. Money will flow to other states where there is no such law limiting broadcasting of races.

Players that bet on these races want to watch them. Why does section 1003 limit broadcasting of races? Why would the state reduce its intake of taxes and impede a New York business in a competitive market? Much of the wagering occurs with Advance Deposit Wagering companies and off wagering and video over the internet. An example is twinspires.com, video is not available for New York races but is available for every other track in the US. . I will quote the pertinent portion of the law below.

"The
board may approve simulcasting into residences, homes or other areas to
be conducted jointly by one or more regional off-track betting
corporations and one or more of the following: a non-profit racing
association, a thoroughbred racing corporation or association or a
harness racing corporation or association;"

[Tom]

Simple solution - stop playing NYRA.

[shanta]

I wrote to my Assemblyman and State Senator as well. Every New York resident on this board lives in a democracy, for the privilege of living in a democracy there is responsibility. It is essential that citizens exercise their responsibility and hold their elected officials accountable for their actions. If there is enough pressure laws providing protection for OTB corruption can be changed.

here is the link to find your NY state assemblyman/Senator so you can write

http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

http://www.senate.state.ny.us/sdlookup.nsf/Public_search?OpenForm



Here is my letter if you do not want to reinvent the wheel

Thanks Greg for the links.

I just fired off some emails and will contimue to send some more later.

Richie

[shanta]

After writing assembly and state senators alike I received this reply today. Shows how absolutely clueless some are man.

My reply to this email attempted to fix that.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Pizzicara:
Thank you for your email regarding the regulation of simulcasting of races. According to the Assembly Racing & Wagering Analyst, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board has just approved simulcasting to Twinspires.com from New York race tracks. The delay in authorizing the signal was to ensure that New York racing interests would be fairly compensated. That is why out of state wagering companies were not licensed until recently and were not authorized to take the New York signal.
Please feel free to contact our office any time we can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Ellen Likovich

Assemblywoman Amy R. Paulin
700 White Plains Road Suite 252
Scarsdale, NY 10583
914-723-1115
paulina@assembly.state.ny.us

[NoCal Boy]

This is really comical. No HRTV and no ADW can show video streaming. Only TVG shows the video for television, but not on its own ADW as far as I understand it. Perhaps this all changes once a permament selection of NYRA to the franchise is enacted by the state.

There is no way this is helping handle at The Big A.

Meanwhile, looking good at Santa Anita thus far. Chances for wet weather anywhere near what just occured is slim in SoCal so maybe they will simply tweak the Cushion track until the meet is over. Times are holding up quite well today

[Tom]

So now HRTV is NOT showing Aqu?

[Pace Cap'n]

So now HRTV is NOT showing Aqu?

Did today.

[Southieboy]

I didn't see it

[Pace Cap'n]

To tell the truth, I didn't either. I was in the next room when my wife said "Why is Aqueduct on 404?" (Dish Network) Perhaps she was mistaken.

[chuck]

Got this tonight: :jump:

We are pleased to announce that live video streaming for Aqueduct and all NYRA races is once again available to Youbet.com members.

We apologize for the delay resulting from the New York state regulatory approval process.

We thank you for your patience and support.



Sincerely,

Player Services
Youbet.com, Inc.

[NoCal Boy]

Not sure if the video is back across the board with other ADW's yet. TVG, Twinspires and XpressBet have nothing on their websites indicating video is back, but hard to believe Youbet is the only one. I guess we will see tomorrow.

[jeebus1083]

I believe that video of NYRA races will be available to those NOT living within New York State if the e-mail I received from TwinSpires.com at the start of the year is correct. They said once video was reinstituted, it would not be available to NYS residents due to laws.

We'll see tomorrow around the 12pm hour.

[Hammerhead]

Means lack of wagers for the wisers takeing and since I do not see value or legitemacy in NY racing No dimes from me :lol: :lol: Sent to nyra

[Tom]

Let me tell about NYS - the Moron State.
Traffic on the NYS thruway is way down, so thier solution is to RAISE TOLLS.
That aught to get them flocking back on!

Did the Moron State jsut discover this last week? why weren't these rule enforce befroe Jan 1?

Something smells bad - worse than Bruno the Hack.

[Zman179]

It doesn't make much sense to ban online video from NYRA, especially since the video is available in the majority of homes that have cable tv in New York State. Why could I watch it on cable, but not online? I don't understand their logic.

[Great Communicator]

I watch the NY races via the NYRA Race Replay on their webiste, it's part of RaceReplay.com and free after you sign-up.

The races are available for viewing almost immediately after the race is official.


http://www.racereplays.com/nyra/index.cfm?start=gen_nyra


Live is better, I can live with this if it's not.

[jeebus1083]

From TwinSpires.com:

Aqueduct Video and Wagering Now Available on TwinSpires

Wednesday, January 16 2:00 am • Tags: Twinspires (http://www.twinspires.com/content/news/topics/Twinspires), aqueduct (http://www.twinspires.com/content/news/topics/aqueduct), NYRA (http://www.twinspires.com/content/news/topics/NYRA), video (http://www.twinspires.com/content/news/topics/video), wagering (http://www.twinspires.com/content/news/topics/wagering)
TwinSpires Players are now able to both wager AND watch live video streaming for all NYRA races. Beginning Wednesday, January 16th, 2008, TwinSpires will offer a full wagering menu and full video options (live and replays) for all NYRA races.

Now, the kicker:
**Please note, pursuant to NYSRWB rules, New York residents will be unable to view live streaming video. TwinSpires Players residing in New York will have access to race replays.

*****

BULL$#IT

[shanta]

With Mr. Silver and Mr. Bruno in charge we are fuc*** unless people get off their tail and do something other than post here.

"Good old boy" network at it again at our expense.

I am badgering both my assembly people and state senator daily about this issue. Problem is without a couple of thousand other "badgerers" where am I going? Nowhere.

Maybe the thumbs down :ThmbDown: :ThmbDown: needs to be for US the players instate who do nothing but squawk yet don't do squat to ruffle feathers in Albany.

[Tom]

I haven't played a NYRA race yet this year and have no intention of starting.
Haven't even looked at a race from Aqu. Don't miss it a bit.

[jeebus1083]

Like Samyn On The Green, I wrote a letter. Feel free to copy this and send it to every freakin' state assemblyman/senator. This is a simple law that just needs a few bits of its language changed. It may have been designed to protect the OTBs long ago, but it is outdated and needs to be changed to compensate for the advances in technology. Several OTBs in the State are now going to Internet Wagering. Wouldn't it be easy to have both the wagering interface AND live video in the same place? Not everyone has access to NYRA video in New York, as not every area of New York State is covered by the Regional OTBs.

Anyway, here is my letter. Insert your name where it says "<insert name here>":

As a horse racing bettor and fan, it is a shame that Section 1003 of the State Pari-Mutuel Wagering Law has not been amended to allow advance deposit wagering organizations like youbet.com, twinspires.com, TVG.com, et. al, to provide live streaming simulcast video of New York tracks. Not all areas of New York State are serviced by an Off-Track Betting corporation (i.e. Oneonta) and those fans who desire to play New York racetracks in those locales lose because they cannot view the races live. Horse Racing is a real-time game-of-chance, and the ability to watch the live broadcast from Aqueduct, Belmont or Saratoga provides bettors important information relevant to making wagers that is not available in print or on websites like DRF.com, NYRA.com, or the various newspapers that cover horse racing. If the language of Section 1003 of the State Pari-Mutuel Wagering Law is amended to include "advance deposit wagering companies" as able to distribute the simulcast signal, it would bring the present law up-to-date and would open simulcasting to all areas of New York State not covered by the regional Off-Track Betting corporations.

Down below is the current law, as written of Section 1003 of the State Pari-Mutuel Wagering Law. Please forward this to other state assemblymen and women so this law gets re-written and better serves the horse racing fans of the Empire State.

Sincerely,
<insert name here>

Except as provided herein, the board shall not approve any application to conduct

simulcasting into individual or group residences, homes or other areas

for the purposes of or in connection with pari-mutuel wagering. The

board may approve simulcasting into residences, homes or other areas to

be conducted jointly by one or more regional off-track betting

corporations and one or more of the following: a non-profit racing

association, a thoroughbred racing corporation or association or a

harness racing corporation or association; provided (i) the simulcasting

consists only of those races on which pari-mutuel betting is authorized

by this chapter at one or more simulcast facilities for each of the

contracting off-track betting corporations which shall include wagers

made in accordance with section one thousand sixteen, one thousand

seventeen and one thousand seventeen-a of this chapter; provided further

that the contract provisions or other simulcast arrangements for such

simulcast facility shall be no less favorable than those in effect on

January first, two thousand five; (ii) that each off-track betting

corporation having within its geographic boundaries such residences,

homes or other areas technically capable of receiving the simulcast

signal shall be a contracting party; (iii) the distribution of revenues

shall be subject to contractual agreement of the parties except that

statutory payments to non-contracting parties, if any, may not be

reduced; provided, however, that nothing herein to the contrary shall

prevent a track from televising its races on an irregular basis

primarily for promotional or marketing purposes as found by the board.

For purposes of this paragraph, the provisions of section one thousand

thirteen of this article shall not apply. Any agreement authorizing an

in-home simulcasting experiment commencing prior to May fifteenth,

nineteen hundred ninety-five, may, and all its terms, be extended until

June thirtieth, two thousand eight; provided, however, that any party to

such agreement may elect to terminate such agreement upon conveying

written notice to all other parties of such agreement at least

forty-five days prior to the effective date of the termination, via

registered mail. Any party to an agreement receiving such notice of an

intent to terminate, may request the board to mediate between the

parties new terms and conditions in a replacement agreement between the

parties as will permit continuation of an in-home experiment until June

thirtieth, two thousand eight; and (iv) no in-home simulcasting in the

thoroughbred special betting district shall occur without the approval

of the regional thoroughbred track.

(b) Any agreement authorizing in-home simulcasting pursuant to this

section shall be in writing, and upon written request, a copy shall be

provided to the representative horsemen's group of the racing

association or corporation that is party to said agreement. Such

agreement shall include a categorical statement of new and incremental

expenses directly related and attributable to the conduct of in-home

simulcasting. The representative horsemen's group may, within thirty

days of receiving the agreement, petition the board for a determination

as to the appropriateness and reasonableness of any expenses attributed

by either the racing association or corporation or the off-track betting

corporation.

[samyn on the green]

Great letter, if people took action instead of bitching and moaning like PMS drenched wet rags something might get done.

[Indulto]

SOTG,
Having conditioned myself to ignore trailers, it took me awhile to notice your blog. Nice work and best of luck.

I always thought your posts here were interesting and informative, so I'll be following you as well, now! ;)