Provides for the amount to be paid by off-track betting corporations to regional harness tracks from out-of-state and out-of-country simulcast revenue.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5924
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 24, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Racing and Wagering
AN ACT to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
relation to payments by off track betting corporations to regional
harness tracks for out-of-state and out-of-country simulcasting reven-
ue
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 1017 of the racing, pari-mutuel
2 wagering and breeding law, as amended by chapter 174 of the laws of 2013
3 and paragraph a as amended by chapter 243 of the laws of 2020, is
4 amended to read as follows:
5 2. [a. Maintenance of effort. Any off-track betting corporation that
6 engages in accepting wagers on the simulcasts of thoroughbred races from
7 out-of-state or out-of-country as permitted under subdivision one of
8 this section shall submit to the commission, for its approval, a sched-
9 ule of payments to be made in any year or portion thereof, that such
10 off-track corporation engages in nighttime thoroughbred simulcasting. In
11 order to be approved by the commission, the payment schedule shall be
12 identical to the actual payments and distributions of such payments to
13 tracks and purses made by such off-track corporation pursuant to the
14 provisions of section one thousand fifteen of this article during the
15 year two thousand two, as derived from out-of-state harness races
16 displayed after 6:00 P.M. If approved by the commission, such scheduled
17 payments shall be made from revenues derived from any simulcasting
18 conducted pursuant to this section and section one thousand fifteen of
19 this article.
20 b. Additional payments.] Payments. During each calendar year, to the
21 extent, and at such time in the event, that aggregate statewide wagering
22 handle after 7:30 P.M. on out-of-state and out-of-country thoroughbred
23 races exceeds one hundred million dollars, each off-track betting corpo-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09481-01-5
A. 5924 2
1 ration conducting such simulcasting shall pay to its regional harness
2 track or tracks, an amount equal to [two percent] the following percent-
3 age of its proportionate share of such excess handle: for calendar years
4 through two thousand twenty-five, two percent; for calendar year two
5 thousand twenty-six, one and one-half percent; for calendar year two
6 thousand twenty-seven, one percent; and for calendar year two thousand
7 twenty-eight, one-half of one percent. There shall be no further addi-
8 tional payment obligation pursuant to this subdivision for calendar
9 years commencing on or after January first, two thousand twenty-nine. In
10 any region where there are two or more regional harness tracks, such
11 [two percent] payment amount shall be divided between or among the
12 tracks in a proportion equal to the proportion of handle on live harness
13 races conducted at such tracks during the preceding calendar year. Fifty
14 percent of the sum received by each track pursuant to this [paragraph]
15 subdivision shall be used exclusively for increasing purses, stakes and
16 prizes at that regional harness track. For the purpose of determining
17 whether such aggregate statewide handle exceeds one hundred million
18 dollars, all wagering on such thoroughbred races accepted by licensed
19 multi-jurisdictional account wagering providers from customers within
20 New York state shall be excluded.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
