The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced today that it has removed its televised signal of Belmont Park thoroughbred racing from the in-home distribution network of the Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation, effective Wednesday, June 3.

The action comes as a result of the discovery that for a period of more than two months (from approximately January 29 to April 15), Nassau OTB had provided live streaming of NYRA racing on its internet site, in violation of New York State Racing and Wagering Board (NYSRWB) rules and regulations which require prior approval from NYRA for internet video streaming.

Despite repeated requests, NYRA has to date received no satisfactory explanation from Nassau OTB as to why it deliberately pirated NYRA’s signal over the internet.

Coincidentally, in early spring NYRA discovered that the Capital Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation was also streaming NYRA races on its website without its permission and in violation of SRWB regulations. Capital OTB, however, apologized and provided NYRA with a reasonable explanation for its actions. As a result, NYRA waived its right to remove its television signal from the Capital OTB in-home distribution network.

“NYRA’s racing signal is valuable and proprietary and we cannot allow it to be pirated by our competitors in the industry,” said NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward. “Nassau OTB’s failure to apologize for and acknowledge its actions has prevented us from understanding what led to the unauthorized video streaming and creating safeguards to prevent this occurrence in the future.”