His high priced errand girl he does not know that when out of state tracks are running New York betyorscwant to bet them
The New York Raci...
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- David O’Rourke
David O’Rourke
President & CEO
David O’Rourke is the Chief Executive Officer & President of the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA), the operator of Belmont Park, home of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of racing’s Triple Crown; Saratoga Race Course, home of the most
prestigious Claude Solnik
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money. racing meet in the U.S.; and Aqueduct Racetrack.
As one of North America’s premier thoroughbred horse racing organizations, NYRA in 2018 generated $2.1 billion in annual all-sources wagering handle with paid attendance exceeding 1.7 million. It is the cornerstone of New York State’s thoroughbred industry, which is responsible for 19,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in annual economic impact to New York State.
O’Rourke joined NYRA as Director of Financial Planning in 2008 and was named Vice President for Corporate Development in 2010. In 2013, he was appointed Chief Revenue Officer and Senior Vice President. In that position, O’Rourke was responsible for NYRA’s business development strategies across a range of disciplines including industry relations, simulcast markets and contracts, television strategy, advance deposit wagering (ADW) operations and capital projects.
During his tenure at NYRA, O’Rourke served as the lead on all content-related negotiations, achieving an increase of more than $20 million in annual revenue. He played a signature role in spearheading the development and growth of NYRA Bets, NYRA’s national Advanced Deposit Wagering (ADW) platform, now available in 30 states.
O’Rourke also developed and led the strategy and investment in cloud-based video streaming technologies and Apps (NYRA Now), which have enabled NYRA to broadcast directly to various devices from TV to mobile and desktop; and transmit video to traditional TV networks such as FOX Sports and MSG. In doing so, he helped shepherd the dramatic expansion of NYRA’s flagship television broadcasts, the critically-acclaimed Belmont Park Live and Saratoga Live, which feature live coverage nearly every race day from Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.
Prior to joining NYRA, O’Rourke was a member of the Zolfo Cooper and Capstone Advisory Group Corporate Restructuring Practices, specializing in multiple operational and financial reorganization efforts in the real estate development, gaming, auto manufacturing, retailing and shipping industries. He also served as Vice President of Operations at Datek Online and was instrumental in helping the company develop into the world’s fourth largest online brokerage.
O’Rourke is a member of the NYRA Board of Directors. He is also a board member of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of America; and a member of the Saratoga Race Course Local Advisory Board, and the Management Committee of Equibase Company.
O’Rourke is a graduate of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and earned an MBA from Tulane University.
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