Judge grants extension to Nassau OTB

A judge granted another extension last week to the Nassau Off-Track Betting Corporation for its multimillion-dollar legal battle with New York harness tracks.

On Nov. 29, Judge Guy P. Tomlinson — whose judicial district (District 4) includes Schenectady, the home of the state Racing and Wagering Board’s headquarters — granted the corporation another extension, giving Nassau OTB and state harness tracks until Jan. 13 to try to reach a settlement with harness tracks.

Nassau OTB hasn't made any payments since 2004 to harness tracks — including Batavia Downs, Yonkers Raceway and Buffalo Raceway — for annual simulcasting proceeds. In March, the New York Racing and Wagering Board gave Nassau OTB an Oct. 31 deadline to pay $647,000 — its debt to harness tracks for 2010 alone. Currently, the corporation’s total liability is $4.5 million — the largest amount of debt among regional OTBs in the state.

Nassau OTB appealed the Oct. 31 deadline and a new deadline of Nov. 30 was granted in early November, under an agreement between the corporation and harness track officials. According to Arthur Walsh, counsel for Nassau OTB, the new Jan. 13 deadline "would be a ripe time for the court to enter a new judgment," which Nassau OTB hopes will include a reasonable payment plan for Nassau OTB and a reduction of its debt.

Walsh explained that all regional OTBs in the state have been working over the past nearly eight years to get rid of, or at least reduce, “maintenance of effort payments” — a category under which simulcasting fees fall, under state law. In 2004, he said, regional OTBs filed litigation against the tracks for the fees, alleging that the law doesn't require OTB corporations to make payments to tracks, but tracks to make such payments to each other.