Aqueduct’s winter/spring race meeting witnessed huge increases in attendance
and on-track handle, NYRA announced Thursday.
For the period spanning January 1 through April 23, compared to last year’s
corresponding time span, attendance was up 48 percent, increasing to 322,165
from 218,078, and total on-track handle (including money bet on simulcast races)
was up 74.6 percent, increasing to $144 million from $83 million.
“We are extremely pleased with the numbers from the recently concluded
Aqueduct meeting,” NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward said. “I am very
encouraged by the hard work that everyone at NYRA has done since the shutdown of
New York City Off-Track Betting to encourage customers to attend our live races
and wager on our product.
“It has been a total team effort and has demonstrated NYRA’s ability to react
quickly and decisively to what could have been a very negative occurrence for
the racing industry as a whole. I also want to thank the New York State Racing
and Wagering Board and Chairman John Sabini for helping us gain expedient
approvals for a number of customer service initiatives.”
NYRA launched a number of initiatives shortly before and after the closure of
NYCOTB on December 7, including:
* Offering bus service to and from
NYCOTB parlor locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, and The
Bronx to Aqueduct.
* Opening the Belmont Café
simulcast center at Belmont Park, which saw attendance of 31,864 and total
handle of $16.4 million during the 2011 Aqueduct meeting.
* The restoration of racing content
via the NYRA Network, to Channel 71 of Time Warner’s basic cable system,
formerly the NYCOTB Racing Network
* Opening for simulcasting seven
days a week at both Aqueduct and the Belmont Café, including extended nighttime
hours on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
The closure of NYCOTB was the major contributing factor to a $63 million
decrease in wagering on NYRA races from the downstate NYOTB’s. Despite that
decline, total all-sources handle (including money bet on simulcast races)
during the Aqueduct meeting was only down 4.2 percent total, $505 million this
year compared to $527 million last year. Comparing the daily averages, total
handle was down only 1.6 percent, $6.9 million on average this year compared to
$7 million last year.
“Despite our total handle being down marginally, the fact that we make
approximately three times the revenue for an on-track wager as compared to
wagers made at a NYCOTB parlor allows us to offset much of that lost handle
revenue,” Hayward said.
Attendance and on-track handle also posted huge gains on Aqueduct’s biggest
day of the meet, Wood Memorial Day on April 9. Wood Day attendance was up 42
percent, on-track handle was up 48 percent, and total all-sources handle on
Aqueduct’s races was up 5 percent.
Below are the exact totals and daily averages for the 2011 Aqueduct meeting
as compared to last year:
Racing Days
73 vs. 75
Attendance
Up 47.7 percent total (322,165 vs. 218,078)
Up 51.8 percent average (4,413 vs. 2,908)
On-Track Handle (including simulcast races)
Up 74.6 percent total ($144,463,747 vs. $83,239,250)
Up 78.3 percent average ($1,978,955 vs. $1,109,857)
On-Track Handle (just NYRA races)
Up 38.4 percent total ($58,741,413 vs. $42,455,943)
Up 42.1 percent average ($804,677 vs. $566,079)
Total Handle (including simulcast races)
Down 4.2 percent total ($504,861,997 vs. $527,025,292)
Down 1.6 percent average ($6,915,918 vs. $7,027,004)
Total Handle (just NYRA races)
Down 13.8 percent total ($419,139,663 vs. $486,241,985) **Down $63,518,295 NYOTB
Downstate
Down 11.4 percent average ($5,741,639 vs. $6,483,226)
Belmont Café
Attendance 31,864
Handle (including simulcast races) $16,427,166
Handle (just NYRA races) $4,825,970