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Originally Posted by cj
I know I'm an outsider, but it seems to me OTBs were a parasite on the tracks much more than the other way around.
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The way I recall it, the NY racetracks had the opportunity to control the branch business at the start but turned it down. So OTB became an independent agency. When they realized they made a big mistake it became an issue.
I have a lot of contacts on the inside and pretty much know what was going on and why. This is the way I see it.
Despite all the BS, NYCOTB turned out to be wildly profitable for the government, breeders, and various other groups, but it also contributed to the slow decline of on track attendance. It was also extremely inefficient because there were multiple OTB organizations around the state (when you really only need one) and because they all became dumping grounds for political patronage jobs and unions workers paid at above market rates.
However, IMO the media coverage of the some of causes of the decline and how the bankruptcies were handled has been horribly one sided and inaccurate (especially from the DRF).
I think everyone knows that the growth is in the phone, hand held device, and computer model, but most still believe there's a huge role for restaurant branches, large simulcast centers etc... NYRA is going to wind up duplicating a lot of OTB already had.
IMO, the idea was to get from where we were to where we need to get without blowing a ton of the handle and destroying a 1000 jobs (with many more to come at the other OTBs). The government handled the process so badly it's almost a travesty.
I understand and agree with everyone that thinks we'd be better off with NYRA controlling everything, but there's a right way, wrong way, truthful way and BS way to get that done.
I should add that I think NYRA didn't really do anything wrong in the BK process. They made a fair deal. It was the state that screwed it up.
