Horse Racing in New York

20 Years of Failed State Support

NY’s lottery, mobile sports betting, VLTs and casinos contribute billions every year to the state. Pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing was legalized by the NYS Constitution to make "a reasonable revenue for support of government."1 It does not. Instead, NY sustains racing with $23 in VLT support for every $1 in wagering taxes returned to the state.2  Wagering taxes from horse racing have declined by 88% as VLT support has skyrocketed to $230 million per year.3 “Horse racing in New York has been propped up by more than $2.9 billion in state taxpayer dollars and government-directed benefits since 2008. That’s more than twice the money New York budgeted for the state Department of Agriculture in the same time period, and 13 times what it spent on veterans’ services.”4  - Times Union

2,000 Horses Have Died at NY Tracks Since 2004. Thousands More Will Die. 

More than 2,000 horses have died at New York’s 11 tracks since racing subsidies were authorized.10 “Despite industry rhetoric to the contrary, the killing remains remarkably consistent: Between 95 and 107 horses have perished annually over the past six years”.11 New Yorkers are forced to subsidize a “sport” that can’t even keep its athletes alive. Racing compares the number of horses killed to how many times all horses raced, or “per start.”  If 100 kids died playing little league in NY every year, it's very doubtful coaches would say “It's ok, look how many times they went up to bat.”  In addition to the deaths at racetracks in the state, unreported racehorse deaths also occur at NY’s private training facilities. For details, visit NY State’s 50-page list of killed/injured horses (New York State Equine Breakdown, Death, Injury and Incident Database). 

There was approximately $4.6 billion in annual gaming receipts to NYS in fiscal year 2023

Lottery: 54%

Casinos, VLTs, Tribal:  29%

Mobile Sports Wagering: 16%

Horse Racing: Two-tenths of 1%

Attendance Down 88% and Wagering Tax Receipts to NY Down 88%

Decades of empty tracks are a financial disaster for NY.  Attendance at New York tracks has dropped 88% since 19783—and revenue to the state from pari-mutuel wagering has crashed with it. With the exception of Saratoga Race Course for just 40 days a year, and the Belmont Stakes for a single day, the grandstands at most tracks are empty and few employees are needed. Live attendance is how NYS and the tracks make a greater percentage of the wagers.5

NY Subsidizes Racing, Yet Other States Collect 82% of Wagering Taxes on NY Racing 2 

Racing emphasizes their large wagering handle, but they don’t tell you that 82% of that betting on NY horse racing is from outside of NY.  After 20 years and billions of support, horse racing is no closer to self-sufficiency.

Racing’s Job Data Has Never Been Verified by NYS9

In the words of former New York State Deputy Secretary for Gaming and Racing Bennett Liebman, “We may not know how many jobs racing has produced, but it is certainly nowhere near the levels that the surveys authored on behalf of the industry have indicated.”4 Hundreds of thousands of businesses in New York produce millions of jobs and more than $1.5 trillion in gross domestic product without casino subsidies. "Despite its large investments in racing, the state has not conducted a study of the jobs produced by horse racing or its economic impact, a spokesman for the Gaming Commission said."4 - Times Union

NYRA Has the Most Lopsided Deal in NY

When the New York Racing Association (NYRA), which operates the Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga tracks, went bankrupt in 2006, the state rewarded its financial failure by signing the 2008 franchise agreement. NYRA ceded land to NY and the state paid or wrote off more than $150 million to bail the association out of bankruptcy. NYRA gained billions in future support payments for its purses, breeding incentives, capital improvements and operating costs—and free rent until 2033. In the process, this deal also transferred the association’s significant property tax obligation to the state.6 NYRA spends on multimillion-dollar clubhouses, lobbyists, generous executive salaries and bonuses and the highest purses in the nation—yet it hasn’t paid a franchise fee to New York State in decades. 

83% of NYers Oppose Racing Subsidies 

A recent Marist Poll found that 83% of New Yorkers want to redirect these casino revenues to public services.  An additional Marist Poll revealed that 91% of New Yorkers have no future plans to visit a New York racetrack and bet on horse racing.13

NY is Currently Home to the Largest Criminal Sports Scandal in US History

NY courts have recently convicted more than 30 horse racing criminals. Horses are drugged to make them run faster—and it often ends in death. An FBI sting nabbed trainers, veterinarians and others in horse racing who were indicted for alleged illegal manufacturing and selling of banned drugs.

Millions in Labor Fines in Just the Last Few Years15

Trainers have exploited the most vulnerable workers. The New York racing industry has a long history of violations against its workers, from poor housing and working conditions to the exploitation of foreign workers who are employed by wealthy trainers using the guest worker visa program to increase profits. Multiple recent U.S. and New York State Department of Labor investigations indicate that trainers see financial penalties as just part of the cost of doing business.15 Please visit the tab "Workers" on this site and read: Trouble at the Track: Wage Theft Plagues the Immigrants of New York’s Horse Racing Industry —Documented.

$450M Loan to New Belmont: Soon the Deadliest Track in America?

A half-billion-dollar loan has recently been approved for Belmont Park which has lost 87% of its attendance and pays no meaningful wagering taxes.12 The new Belmont Park will now be compared to all other year-round tracks in the US. “In the most recent five-year period, Aqueduct and Belmont, which is precisely what the new track would comprise, combined have 275 kills. That would rank it first in the nation [for racing horse deaths].” 11 In other words, the new Belmont will instantly become the deadliest racetrack in America.