NYRA pulls video signal from Nassau OTB

The New York Racing Association has pulled its video signal from the state's Nassau County Off-Track Betting Corp., claiming that the company provided live streaming video of NYRA racing on its Internet site in violation of state law.

The signal was also lost to homes in Suffolk County on Wednesday, though NYRA officials say that was a mistake and hoped to restore that signal in time for Thursday's program.

NYRA claims that for a period of more than two months, Jan. 29-April 15, Nassau OTB provided streaming video of Aqueduct races on its website in violation of state regulations that require prior approval from NYRA for Internet streaming video.

In a press release, NYRA officials claim it has not received a satisfactory explanation from Nassau OTB as to why it "deliberately pirated NYRA's signal over the Internet."

In a release of its own Wednesday, Nassau OTB said that the NYRA video had been "disseminated erroneously" by Scientific Games Racing, the subcontractor responsble for its website, and that the betting company had "corrected the problem immediately" upon learning of it. The release said an April 17 letter of explanation from Scientific Games had been forwarded to NYRA.