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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Odds and Ends

Matt Hegarty reports:

Estimates for the revenue from the slot machines vary, but if each machine generates $300 in revenue a day - a conservative estimate for a casino in one of the country's largest metropolitan areas - total annual revenue would be $500 million. Many casino analysts predict that each machine will generate $500 a day.

Under the low estimate, horsemen and breeders will receive $45 million a year in subsidies when their percentages max out in the third year - approximately $175,000 in additional purse money and breeder awards for each racing day. NYRA will receive about $35 million a year for capital improvements and operations. [DRF]

Whew, $500 a day seems rather ambitious, you think? How much more likely are people in the city to go to Ozone Park than they are to Yonkers? I still think that Belmont is in a better location to be successful being within easy driving distance of the affluent Long Island suburbs.

- James Odato reports in the Times Union that NYRA is technically operating on a third temporary extension until March 7, at which time they will officially hand the deeds to the properties over to the state, perhaps in a lavish ceremony that will be covered live by TVG. In fact, the law states:
The franchised corporation shall not commence operation until by-laws and a corporate governance code of conduct are adopted by its board of directors. Such by-laws and code shall ensure the franchised corporation is operated in an efficient and transparent manner, with the highest degree of integrity and is fully accountable to the people of the state of New York.
Odato also writes that, in addition to the $105 million relief package, the agreement will relieve [NYRA] of about $120 million in unpaid state loans, about a third of the $364 million in debts it owes creditors. So that widely reported $105 million is really less than half of the monetary value of the b-b-b-bailout.

- Of the 11 board members that will not be appointed by NYRA, which gets 14, two each will be appointed by the Senate and Assembly, and seven by the Governor. Out of those seven, one each is to be selected upon recommendations by the breeders, the NYTHA, and the AFL-CIO (?), and the other "shall be a current or former officer or director of a New York State off-track betting corporation."

9 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Affluent Long Island suburbanites would not be playing VLTs even if they were at Belmont.

Anonymous said...

===Whew, $500 a day seems rather ambitious, you think?=== I don't know what Yonkers is doing wrong. It looks like they just built a big box and hoped people would show up. If they do it right at Aqueduct (entertainment center, classy restaurants, etc.) they will do the $500 per day. There are riverboats in Chicago suburbs doing almost $900 per day and there is plenty of competition. But the higher class, nicer casinos draw the deeper pocket customers which in turn drive up the daily averages.

Alan Mann said...

>>But the higher class, nicer casinos draw the deeper pocket customers which in turn drive up the daily averages.

I think that the NY racinos, including Yonkers, are too heavily taxed to have made those investments in entertainment centers, etc. But i agree, and that's why I respectfully disagree with the previous commenter. I think that a classy establishment with entertainment at Belmont would draw people from the 'burbs.

Anonymous said...

I hope they at least throw a new coat of paint on the grandstands before spending dime one on any slot parlors.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Alan, the AQU crowd will be day trippers and locals, $300 is achievable if it is run well but $500 not going to happen.

Anonymous said...

Who is the "current or former officer or director of a New York State off-track betting corporation."

Sounds like it was written with someone in mind. Any ideas?

Anonymous said...

How about Allie Sherman?

Alan Mann said...

>>How about Allie Sherman?

Oh man, I was gonna say that!

Anonymous said...

According to The Blood Horse, Spitzer Aides: NYRA Right Choice for Franchise, September 27, 2007, by Tom Precious, at http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=41004, at the public meeting of the N.Y. State Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering conducted on September 27, 2007, then Spitzer Budget Director Paul Francis [now Director of State Operations] stated he believed each Aqueduct VLT machine would collect $300 in revenue per day, rising to $400 in three years.

During that same hearing, Spitzer aide Pat Foye, Chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation and Mr. Francis stated Empire Racing was rejected for a host of reasons, including questions about the financial projections of the VLT casino.

According to the Ad Hoc Committee Report, p. 150, Empire projected the win per machine per day of for Aqueduct-based machines to be $414 during the first year of operations in 2008 and would increase to $453 by the fifth year of operation.

Hmmm.