Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Bill gives NYRA 25-Year Franchise

February 13, 2008

The New York Racing Association Inc. will get a new franchise to run the state's horse racing and money to help it emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to a deal announced Wednesday.

A 190-page bill detailing the plan was introduced in the state Senate and Assembly earlier in the day, the final day that NYRA's existing franchise was valid. The nonprofit organization had said it would lay off 600 to 700 workers on Valentine's Day if a deal wasn't reached by then.

The bill gives NYRA 25 more years of control over horse racing at Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct. In return, the state gets ownership of the land at those tracks.

That's five years less than what Gov. Eliot Spitzer had proposed in September 2007, after closed-door negotiations with NYRA officials. But Spitzer also advocated giving NYRA state money to pay off its creditors, including many area companies. The bill allots $105 million for NYRA to do that.

No immediate comment was available from Spitzer's office or from NYRA. Both, along with the state Legislature, must approve the deal.

The complex agreement also includes several items that Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick), had called for.

A top priority was reforming NYRA's board. Currently, NYRA names 20 of the 28 members to the board, but the deal trims the board size down to 25 members. The bill gives more power to state officials, who would be able to pick 11 of the new board's members.

Bruno has said he wanted even more power given to state officials, but he agreed to the new board laid out in the bill. Both houses of the Legislature are scheduled to vote on the bill on Feb. 13.

Approval of the bill is expected to speed NYRA's emergence from bankruptcy, where it's been since November 2006. NYRA had crafted its reorganization plan around Spitzer's franchise proposal, but proceedings had been stalled while on-and-off negotiations in Albany, N.Y., failed to reach a resolution.