NYRA Pushing For Fixed Odds Wagering at Sportsbooks

In what could be classified as the if you can’t beat them, join them category, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is pushing state lawmakers to make it possible for New York’s online sportsbooks to offer fixed odds wagering on horse racing.  

Leaders in the New York horse racing industry believe that forming a partnership with online sports betting sites operating in the Empire State would be beneficial to all parties involved – the sportsbooks, the racing industry, and the state government. Estimates are that offering fixed odds wagering on horse racing through the state’s online sportsbooks could add up to $30 million in annual tax revenue to New York’s coffers.

“We see this as an opportunity to drive new revenue to our industry, to the state, and down to the shareholders and stakeholders, which are horsemen, breeders, and owners,” said Jeffrey Cannizzo, vice president of government affairs for NYRA, during a hearing conducted by the state assembly on the status of New York’s horse racing sector.

The hearing was commissioned to allow state lawmakers to better understand how the ever-changing landscape in the US gambling industry is impacting the horse racing industry.

According to a 2023 New York State Equine Industry Economic Impact Study, the equine industry generates $7 billion in economic impact and supports over 52,300 jobs throughout the state. Horse racing contributes to the local economies of all 62 counties in New York.

At the same time, in terms of wagering, horse racing is being dwarfed by online and mobile sports betting. During each week since football season began in the fall, New York’s mobile sportsbooks have handled at least half a billion dollars in wagers each week. In the entire month of October, the total handle wagered on horse racing across the USA was $868 million, according to figures supplied by Equibase.

All sports betting is fixed odds wagering. You get the odds as they were when you placed your bet. Horse racing operates via pari-mutuel wagering. The odds on a race fluctuate right up until post time, and you get the odds as they are set when the race goes postward.

There is a fixed odds wagering bill before the State Assembly

A bill that would make it legal for fixed odds wagering to be offered by New York online sportsbooks is currently before the state legislature. However, it’s made little progress since being introduced last summer.

The bill was introduced in January 2024 by New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo, a Queens Democrat who chairs the Senate racing, gaming, and wagering committee, and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Westchester County Democrat who heads the Assembly’s racing and wagering committee.

Both politicians have long been proponents of the expansion of gambling in the Empire State. They introduced a similar bill in 2023, but that bill never made it out of committee.

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