New York Approves Four Mobile Sports Wagering Operators To Begin Taking Bets On Saturday

The NYS Gaming Commission announced Thursday that four licensed Mobile Sports Wagering Operators – Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Rush Street Interactive – have satisfied all statutory and regulatory requirements necessary to accept and process mobile sports wagering activity and have been approved to commence operations with launch effective no earlier than Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

According to the New York Daily News, New York will be the biggest state to launch online sports betting since 2018, when the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. The state has had in-person sports betting since 2019, but its four in-person sportsbooks, all located at least an hour from New York City, have generated just $3.7 million in tax revenue.

The NYSGC's approval also includes up to $6 million in funds for gambling addiction programs each year.

The remaining five conditionally licensed Mobile Sports Wagering Operators continue to work towards satisfying statutory and regulatory requirements necessary to launch and will be approved on a rolling basis when requirements are met.

Read more at the New York Daily News.

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‘Bullish On Thoroughbred Racing,’ New NTRA Chief Rooney Sets Sights On Washington

When the National Thoroughbred Racing Association board began its search for a new president and chief executive officer to replace Alex Waldrop, who announced his retirement earlier this year, it became obvious that it would be vital to find someone who knew his or her way around Washington, D.C.

That's why the hiring of former U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney to fill that role seems like a perfect fit and the decision to open a Washington office makes sense. Who knows the U.S. Capitol better than a former Member of Congress. Rooney brings the added value of coming from a family that is well known not only in sports as longtime owner of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, but also in racing.

The Rooney family has owned several tracks over the years, including Yonkers Raceway in New York, and currently the Palm Beach Kennel Club, which has evolved into a card room and simulcast center after dog racing in Florida was killed via statewide referendum. Rooney is actively engaged in the Thoroughbred industry through his family's Shamrock Farm in Maryland, where he currently serves on the board of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association

Rooney, 50, is a native of Philadelphia who served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida's Districts 16 and 17 that comprise an area bordering the Gulf Coast in the south-central portion of the state. Rooney was interviewed by Paulick Report publisher Ray Paulick.

When he was running for president, Joe Biden asked, “Why should you get a (tax) break for racehorses and not get a break for child care?” How would you answer that question?
Tax relief for child care costs supports our country's working families. It is the right thing to do. It's also the right thing to do to make sure that the tax code treats investments properly, especially when that investment is in an industry like ours that isn't well understood. Owning, raising, and training Thoroughbreds is the economic foundation of our industry, supporting thousands of family farms and open working space. The majority of breeding operations are small, local farms that are incredibly important to the economic health of their communities.

How important is preservation of the depreciation for racehorses and other tax benefits to the health of the industry? Is there any danger they could be taken away?
It's very important to make sure the tax law is an accurate reflection of the economics of this industry, and the current rule regarding depreciation is set to expire at the end of this year. This is something the NTRA is already focused on that will be a big priority for me out of the gate. Additionally, some of the tax relief that was included in the 2017 legislation will begin to sunset or change in other ways over the next few years and those could impact investment in racehorses. Our work to maintain or expand these provisions is at the top of our agenda.

Where does the racing industry stand with its political action committee? Is Horse PAC large enough to give the industry a chance to be heard by Members of Congress?
Whether people like it or not, campaign contributions are a big part of how our political system works. Horse PAC is vitally important to our efforts in Washington. Not only do we have to raise and distribute money, but I need to be at the table to go shoulder to shoulder with the other industries competing for legislation that benefits them.

What challenges do you see coming up in Washington, D.C., relative to the startup of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority?
Change isn't always easy and, in this case, we are looking at implementing a new system of federal oversight. This is a substantial change, involving coordination among the FTC, the HISA Authority, USADA and industry stakeholders. It's going to take consensus and collaboration. We can't turn back here. The old system was not serving us well both practically and in terms of public perception.

What were your views on HISA (and previous attempts at similar legislation) during your years in Congress and what are they today?
I never got a chance to vote for HISA as I was already out of Congress when it passed, but I would have voted in support. In addition to the comprehensive reforms it enables, it also gives us a chance to show the public and government leaders that we are addressing fundamental safety issues and are headed in the right direction. We have to give HISA a chance to succeed.

The vision for the NTRA has evolved from a “league office” that at one time was operationally merged with the Breeders' Cup. Among other things, it incorporated marketing and promotion, broadcast rights, racing sponsorships, group purchasing and advocacy in Washington, D.C. What would you say are the NTRA's top priorities today?
I can't really speak to what happened 15-20 years ago. RIght now, the NTRA's top priority is to build on our track record at the federal level, to make sure our political leaders understand the important economic contributions our industry generates, that they appreciate our collective responsibility and commitment to the safety and welfare of our athletes.

New NTRA president and CEO Tom Rooney (center) presenting a trophy at the Maryland Million

Your family has been involved in the NFL for many years as owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers. What did the NFL do to become so popular over the last 30 or 40 years that horse racing failed to do?
The NFL and major network television were a perfect marriage. The irony is that in the early days of the Steelers, our family's racing operations provided the funding that kept the team alive.

I'm bullish on Thoroughbred racing. Even with the issues of the last few years, the sport has built a reservoir of goodwill with the public. Interest remains strong — the Kentucky Derby this year had higher ratings than the World Series, the Masters and the NBA Finals. A national survey of sports bettors this summer showed horse racing as their sixth favorite sport to bet. We were behind football, basketball, baseball, soccer and boxing but ahead of golf, hockey, tennis and several others.

How do you see sports betting on the competitive landscape? Is there any upside from it for horse racing?
It's here and it's only going to get bigger, so we need to view sports betting as an opportunity. This is a highly engaged audience of people who enjoy betting and many of them may not currently bet on racing. Thoroughbred racing is premier betting content that should be attractive to this audience. It is important that we integrate racing into sports betting platforms and it is encouraging that it is already happening with examples like FanDuel Racing and NYRA's partnership with BetMGM.

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For Jim McIngvale, an Astros World Series Win Would Mean $35.6 Million

Horse owner and master promoter Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale is no stranger to making big sports bets, but never anything like this. If his beloved Houston Astros win the World Series, McIngvale will make $35.6 million off of a series of bets he made in June. It would be the largest winning wager ever in U.S. sports betting history.

McIngvale often combines his wagers with promotions at his Gallery Furniture Stores in Houston. Earlier this year, he promised his customers that any mattress they bought worth $3,000 or more would be free if the favorite won the GI Kentucky Derby. McIngvale hedged, wagering $2.4 million to win on 5-2 favorite Essential Quality (Tapit), who finished fourth. A winning bet would have been worth a profit of just less than $7 million, which would have more than covered the amount he lost giving away free mattresses. A loss by Essential Quality still meant that he sold thousands of mattresses he otherwise would not have sold. Either way, McIngvale would come out a winner.

In February, McIngvale won $2.72 million on a Super Bowl wager in which he bet $3.46 million on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to cover the 3.5 point spread. It was the single largest legal wager placed on the game.

The latest promotion follows the same blueprint as the Derby wager. An Astros World Series win would mean that anyone buying a mattress during the promotional period would get it for free. Prior to the American League Championship Series, McIngvale estimated that having to give away the mattresses would cost him $20 million. It looks like that number has gone up.

When reached Saturday, a day after the Astros advanced to the World Series with a win over the Boston Red Sox, McIngvale said his store was being overrun by customers looking to take advantage of the promotion.

“Today is the biggest day in the store's history,” he said. “By a factor of about four and it's going up all the time. We're going to sell thousands of mattresses. I can't even count them. We're trying to buy them as fast as we can get them. We can't buy them fast enough. It will literally be thousands of mattresses.”

Believing that the promotion would prove to be a huge success, McIngvale made his wagers on June 10, when the Astros were still considered one of many teams with a good shot at going all the way. He bet $2 million that the Astros would win the World Series with William Hill at odds of 10-1 and another $1 million at 10-1 with Fanduel. He also made two smaller wagers at outlets that gave him 16-1. In total, he bet $3.2 million on the Astros.

The Astros are now an odds-on favorite to win their first World Series since 2017.

“I like to gamble,” McIngvale said. “I gamble big all the time. It's a promotion and it's a hedge. My heart and soul are with the Houston Astros, and, just as with Runhappy, I'm all in.”

For a while, it looked like McIngvale had backed a loser. The Astros fell behind, 2-1, in the series with Boston and their starting pitching was a mess. Many a pundit had already given the series to the Red Sox. Instead, the Astros rallied to win the next three games to close out the series and advance.

“I was not worried,” McIngvale said. “After they got beat Monday night, I was in Boston having a good time and saw some of the players that I know and they were upbeat and positive. I knew that sooner or later every batter on the Red Sox would stop hitting. 500. I knew there would be a statistical swing and things sure swung the Astros way over the last three games.”

Having a potential World Series winner at 10-1 means that McIngavle could “save” and bet some amount to win on the National League team. By doing so, he could lock in a guaranteed profit. It's not going to happen.

“I would consider that treason,” he said. “I would never do that to my boys. I wouldn't do that in a thousand years.”

With so many customers buying mattresses on Saturday, it was difficult for McIngvale to do the math. He knows he will make $35.6 million if the Astros win, but there was no telling how much he would lose giving away so many mattresses. That didn't matter with him. Not only is his heart with his hometown, he wants nothing more than to reward his customers with free mattresses.

“It will make customers happy and that's the whole idea,” he said of an Astros World Championship. “That's the whole idea, making customers happy. That's the name of the game. If the customers get their money back, they will talk about this for decades to come.”

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Racing And Gaming Conference Of Saratoga Returns With A More Mainstream Approach

In recent racing seasons, the Albany Law School's Racing and Gaming Conference was a hub for lawyers and racing industry executives to gather and discuss legal issues facing the racing and wagering industries. After the 2019 edition of the conference, it seemed the event may have run its course, as the college decided it would no longer host the event, which is traditionally held in Saratoga between the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale and the Jockey Club Round Table.

Attorney Patrick Brown, co-founder of Brown & Weinraub, couldn't let it go.

“I was very disappointed because I worked on it for many years,” Brown said. “I decided, well I know the conference, so why don't I step up and try to do it myself?”

Brown was on the event's advisory board for the law school, and had been a panelist, sponsor, and speaker at various times during the life of the event. The conference had been offered for continuing education credits for equine attorneys, but Brown had bigger ideas of what it could be.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and one of Brown's first actions as the new organizer of the event was to cancel its 2020 edition. He delayed planning the 2021 conference until it became clear that the Saratoga race meet would go on with fans in attendance. Then, he got to work.

As the product of a law school, the conference has previously been focused on academic legal subjects. Brown wanted to open it up a bit, so racing fans and industry professionals could find an engaging topic presented in a way that made sense to them. While lawyers still make up a portion of the speakers and panelists at this year's event, Brown has balanced them with non-attorneys whose perspective he finds key to the issues at hand.

“I wanted to move the focus of the conference from academic/lawyer to some academics, lots of industry folks, and if we can attract some fans, just regular people who are really interested in horse racing and the gambling industry, I wanted to try to make the panels attractive to fans as well – and potential participants in horse racing,” Brown said. “I think we lawyers can get into the weeds quickly. It's interesting, and the panels I participated in were very good for lawyers but I wanted to make it less of that and more accessible to non-lawyers.”

This year's topics include an examination of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) and its challenges, information on decoupling, ownership models, sports betting in New York, mobile sports betting, esports wagering, and tribal gaming.

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Brown has also moved the event from a hotel downtown to the 1863 Club at the track and will be partnering with the New York Racing Association for the first time. It always made sense to have the event during the race meet, but Brown wanted to connect it more directly with the experience of the track, which is the primary draw for most attendees.

In some ways, Brown said he has had a career's worth of preparation to structure an event like this one (although he admits he has had considerable organizational help from Spectrum Gaming Group). Brown worked in Gov. Mario Cuomo's Counsel's Office in the late 1980s, where he advised Cuomo on matters pertaining to racing, lottery, and tribal gaming law. After Cuomo left office, Brown worked for a firm with a number of racing industry clients before launching his own firm in 2001.

He is also a Thoroughbred owner.

Brown said there are two panels he's most excited about — one he will moderate on mobile sports wagering, and another titled 'Economics of Bookmaking,' which will feature a top Vegas attorney and a professional bookmaker.

“The point of that panel is to highlight that one of the fundamental challenges of the new sports wagering is to get people to change their behavior,” said Brown. “People who bet on sports in this country have been doing it the same way for a long time and when you bet with a bookie, you don't have to put the money up, you can bet on credit. There's advantages to doing it that way, and the authorized sports books have to now get people to change that behavior.

“I really like the array of policy choices you have to make when you're trying to create a rational horse racing and gambling policy in a state. It's really fascinating to me.”

The Racing and Gaming Conference at Saratoga will be held Aug. 16 and 17. Registration is available on site or in advance at this link.

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