NYRA Now App Puts Customers in Control

Customers looking for customization of their racing experience should find a useful tool in the new NYRA Now app, which not only provides access to all things New York Racing Association but lets the user determine the experience.

For those who have not downloaded the app that was launched in April, this week figures to be an opportune time with the Belmont Stakes (G1) set for June 10 and the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival beginning June 8. At noon on June 7, the app will provide video coverage of the Belmont Stakes draw, live from Rockefeller Center. (Video of the draw also will be available at NYRA.com.)

As NYRA produces shows as well as content for its national show on FOX Sports 2 and regional show on MSG+, interviews and various segments are added to the app, allowing the user to call up content on demand.

"We're uploading four to five elements from the show to the app on a daily basis," said NYRA senior director of television Dan Silver. "So if you're watching the show and we've had an interview with Todd Pletcher or Chad Brown that you want to go back and watch, it'll be up on the app. If you're not able to watch the live show for whatever reason, you can go on the app and see a lot of that content."

That on-demand experience is becoming the norm for many sports fans, especially in the younger demographic. While the previous NYRA HD app allowed for live HD streaming of races and video replays of the day's races, the new app continues to allow the HD live streaming but adds HD replays going back more than a year.

Beyond that, the app allows users to select different camera angles to view races and workouts, and users can select race calls in English or Spanish. The app allows video-on-demand workouts, expert analysis, and history segments. NYRA plans to add more educational videos for beginners and as those newcomers get comfortable with the game, NYRA Bets can be launched from the app to allow the user to place a wager.

After the day's NYRA race recap show "Talking Horses" airs the video is available on the app—for viewing of the entire video or a specific race.

"What you're seeing out there is that people want an à la carte experience," said NYRA chief revenue officer Dave O'Rourke. "As we put this content out there, we monitor it. We actually continually refine it to figure out what actually works and what doesn't work."

O'Rourke said besides the impressive amount of customer features, the app also is providing NYRA reliable information about what its customers want.

"We have much more granularity into what people are doing, what devices they're using, how long their sessions are," O'Rourke said. "It allows us to adjust the product much more."

Popular features include live odds tracking and videos on the history of the game. NYRA officials have taken notice and believe the app will prove particularly important leading into its biggest races of the season.

"We wanted to have a one-stop shopping destination for fans of NYRA racing where they can get all of the content that we're putting out there," Silver said. 

And there are plans for more. NYRA is looking at 3D, 360-degree technology through Google Cardboard that would put users in the center of the paddock at Saratoga Race Course when that meet begins this summer.