Silver rejoins NYRA as director of television and interactive platforms

After leaving the organization in the fall of 2012 to take a position at Hollywood Casino at Penn National, Dan Silver is returning to the New York Racing Association as its director of television and interactive platforms, it was announced Friday.

The job is a newly created position that is designed to better coordinate NYRA’s television, website and, to a degree, its advance deposit wagering platforms, according to David O’Rourke, NYRA’s vice president of corporate development who said Silver’s re-hire was “a specific recruitment by me.”

“We’re trying to marry those platforms a little better, that’s going to be Dan’s job,” O’Rourke said. “Right now, we’ve got our TV production and our TV platform, our website and our website platform and I see them as extensions of each other as opposed to individual assets.”

Silver’s hire is not expected to affect John Imbriale, who is NYRA’s director of television production. Imbriale is also the winter track announcer. He began calling the races on Friday for the next four months.

Silver initially joined NYRA in 2008 as the marketing communications manager. In 2009, he became director of communications and media relations before resigning in October 2012 to become the director of racing operations at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. In his role there, Silver helped create the inaugural Penn Mile, which set new wagering records for the track. Silver also helped introduce a pick-four wager linking two races at Belmont and two at Penn National.

“Dan is an extremely talented and creative racing executive, and we are delighted to welcome him back,” O’Rourke said in a press release.

Silver, a Philadelphia native, has master’s degrees from the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, along with a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College.

“NYRA has one of the most respected television signals and network of websites in the industry,” said Silver, who will begin his new job next month. “I am very excited at the prospect of returning to the organization and helping to build on that success.”