NY OTBs, CDI Resume Rocky Simulcast Talks

With the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) fast approaching, New York's off-track betting corporations and Churchill Downs Inc. have resumed negotiations to end a bitter dispute over simulcast fees.

The state's five OTB corporations last summer cut off signals from Churchill Downs and other CDI-owned tracks amid complaints that simulcast fees, in the words of one OTB official, had become "outside the industry standards."

A CDI spokesman has not commented on the status of the talks, and several OTB leaders did not return calls for comment. But two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the negotiations have stepped up because the OTB corporations want to be able to simulcast this year's Kentucky Derby.

The restoration of the CDI signals by New York's OTB outlets has been described as a tense set of talks made more challenging because of the number of parties involved.

One draft provision seeks to ban anyone associated with the OTB corporations from communicating with or lobbying lawmakers, the governor, and regulators regarding financial or regulatory matters concerning CDI. It also seeks to prevent OTB corporations from contacting the New York Racing Association during the term of the simulcast agreement as it relates to "accessing the broadcast and/or wagering rights" of CDI content.

It could not be determined if that clause is still part of any negotiations, why it was sought, or who requested it.

"I've never seen anything like that," Mike Kane, president of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., said of the provision he believes CDI wanted in any simulcast deal. He called it a "starkly arrogant" demand, which he said has been referred to the New York State Gaming Commission for its input.

Kane said CDI wanted the same basic fees as a year ago when the OTB outlets cut off the CDI signals. He said the officials also wanted NYRA to be a part of the simulcast talks, a move Kane said CDI opposed.