Nassau OTB sues NYRA over blocked signal

Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. in New York filed a lawsuit on Thursday that seeks to require the New York Racing Association to restore in-home broadcasts of its races to cable subscribers in Nassau County, the company said.

The lawsuit was filed in response to NYRA's blocking the distribution of the broadcasts to cable subscribers just days before the Belmont Stakes. NYRA withheld the signal after accusing the offtrack betting company of illegally streaming its races over an account-wagering site Nassau owns from mid-January to mid-April.

Though NYRA's signal is still being provided to Nassau's offtrack betting sites, the association has continued to deny Nassau the ability to broadcast the races to residences.

"NYRA's actions have hurt tens of thousands of loyal racing fans in Nassau County," said Dino Amoroso, the president of Nassau OTB, in a release.

In a statement, NYRA's president, Charles Hayward, called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said that "Nassau OTB's irresponsible actions are further vindication of NYRA's decision to no longer trust OTB with its signal."

In addition to restoration of the signal, the suit also seeks $15 million in damages, according to Nassau.