Tom Rooney to take over at helm of NTRA

Tom Rooney, the former U.S. Representative from Florida whose family has been involved in horse racing for three generations, has been hired to become the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s president and chief executive officer, the NTRA announced on Thursday.

Rooney, who served five terms in the House of Representatives, from 2009 to 2019, will take over from Alex Waldrop, the longtime head of the NTRA, when Waldrop retires at the end of this year. Rooney’s family, the majority owners of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers since 1933, has operated Shamrock Farm in Maryland for decades, and the family has also owned horse and greyhound tracks.

The NTRA, founded as a league-office and marketing arm of the racing industry, has increasingly focused its role on federal legislative matters and now operates as the de facto national lobbying arm of Thoroughbred racing constituencies. Its board is comprised of representatives from every major constituency in the industry.

“Having been immersed in horse racing my entire life, I know the issues and have a solid understanding of the needs of the industry,” Rooney said in a release. “Coupled with my 10 years serving as a member of Congress, I know how to get things done in Washington, D.C., and look forward to increasing our advocacy efforts with our nation’s lawmakers.”

In the release, the NTRA said that Rooney focused most of his legislative efforts on economic, agricultural, national security, and military issues. Rooney, 50, served as a Republican, and announced in 2018 that he would not seek re-election.

The NTRA’s major successes in Washington over the past five years have been lobbying for a change in the tax treatment of winning wagers and securing a vote from its board to support the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, which would establish a national regulatory body for horse racing in the U.S. The legislation passed late in 2020.

As part of the hiring, the NTRA will open an office in Washington, D.C., and “conduct a strategic review of the organization and its activities as it places additional focus on its role as the trade association for the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry.”

Rooney will also become the president of the Horse PAC, the NTRA’s political action committee that distributes campaign funds to legislators.

Prior to his congressional career, Rooney served in the U.S. Army as a lawyer in the JAG Corps. He received his law degree from the University of Miami, and is a resident of Palm Beach County, Fla.