News

Monday, January 23, 2006
Stop of rebating pushes NY betting down

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) decided in 2005 to stop the provision of simulcast to so-called rebate shops for reasons of integrity. These 'rebate' betting operators operate offshore and attract bettors by giving a rebate on the commissions. The rebaters again can offer these rebates because of their privilidged deals with the tracks.

NYRA explains that the end of the relationships with rebate shops has lead to the drop in 2005 total betting turnover of 4.2%. Also the average starters per race declined from 8.15 in 2004 to 7.75 in 2005. The total amount of races remained stable around 2,300 whereas track attendance went down from an average of 8,216 attendees in 2004 to 7,703 in 2005.

Despite the end of the rebating, NYRA racing continues to generate an average of $10 million betting volume per day during a 254 race days in 2005.