Finger Lakes, OTB settle

Finger Lakes Racetrack and Western OTB Corporation of New York reached an agreement late Thursday that will restore simulcast signals at both locations after a two-day blackout, the president of Finger Lakes said.

The agreement, which will run through the end of 2007, will allow Finger Lakes and the betting outlets owned by Western each to offer three out-of-state simulcast signals during the time that Finger Lakes runs live races, said Christian Riegle, the president of Finger Lakes. The agreement will also allow both parties to offer the races from the tracks operated by the New York Racing Association.

An earlier agreement expired on Monday. A New York law prohibits either Western OTB or Finger Lakes from offering simulcast races without an agreement between the two parties.

Under the previous agreement, Western OTB had paid Finger Lakes 3.75 percent of handle on simulcast races, according to Mike Kane, the vice president of racing and gaming at Western OTB.

Riegle declined to be specific about the new percentage, but said it "was a significant reduction" from the previous contract.

"We made that decision because this is what the customer wants, and what the customer deserves," Riegle said.