NYRA (New York Racing Association) has been having contract disputes with almost everyone these days. They cut off pari-mutuel wagering and live video to Twinspires (Churchill Downs), but shortly after reached an agreement. FanDuel’s contract with NYRA ended on 1 July, with NYRA opting to axe its content from the brand’s platforms on July 4th. They managed to settle their dispute a few weeks later, but it looks like FanDuel has decided not to show any NYRA races on their live broadcast. You can wager on NYRA races in the app, but if you want to watch the races, you have to access the live feed outside of FanDuel TV.
I find it annoying that we can’t watch the race on FanDuel TV. I have become familiar with the FanDuel pre-race commentary and like watching the races on my big screen TV. If I want to watch a NYRA race, I need to find the live feed on YouTube, or watch it in a tiny window on the TVG app. With the FanDuel broadcast, they show races from around the country. On a busy weekend, races go off one after the other. But they now exclude all NYRA tracks from the broadcast. It is like they don’t exist, even though you can still place a wager from the TVG or FanDuel app.
I feel like boycotting horse racing until they get this figured out. My interest in the sport usually wanes after June. But when there is conflict among the entities that run the show, it just drives fans away. Especially, those of us that don’t want to create multiple wagering accounts. It doesn’t help that my wagers have not produced a positive return this year. Of the 24-pick 4’s that I placed in the last 7 months, only 2 were winners. The frustrating part is that 11 of them had 3 out of 4 correct. I will post a full report at the end of the year. But so far it hasn’t been going well.