NYRA partners with Monmouth on TV content, sponsorship

The New York Racing Association and Monmouth Park in New Jersey have reached an agreement that will result in expanded coverage for Monmouth’s races on “America’s Day at the Races,” the NYRA production that airs on Fox Sports, the two companies announced on Monday.

Under the agreement, Monmouth races will be shown live on America’s Day at the Races from May 11 through July 7, alongside races from NYRA’s Belmont-at-Aqueduct meet. After the start of NYRA’s Saratoga’s meet on July 11, “select stakes races” from Monmouth will be part of the America’s Day coverage, the companies said.

Also as part of the agreement, NYRA Bets, the account-wagering company operated by NYRA that is heavily promoted on America’s Day at the Races, will become the title sponsor of Monmouth’s Grade 1 Haskell Stakes on July 20 and the traditional local Haskell prep race, the Pegasus, on June 15.

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Account wagering by New Jersey residents is currently limited by state regulation to a single company, FanDuel, under a long-term contract. Several months ago, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which provides oversight for the contract, gave approval to Monmouth to seek a long-term contract with NYRA on the account-wagering rights in the state, under a so-called "master agreement" that would allow other account-wagering companies to negotiate with NYRA on the right to accept wagers from the New Jersey market as well.

Officials for Monmouth Park declined to comment on the status of those negotiations on Monday.

Patrick McKenna, the vice president of communications for NYRA, said that the association “is working closely with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority regarding the future landscape of advance-deposit wagering in New Jersey.”

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