In a year in which New York has seen growth in lottery revenue, Batavia Downs is among the most successful video gaming facilities in the state, reports the Ithica Journal:
The largest was a 10 percent revenue increase at Batavia Downs Race Track, which is owned by Western Regional Off-Track Betting. Western OTB was criticized when it bought the track in the late 1990s, but the success of the terminals has offset losses on the racing side, allowing Western OTB in recent years to return profits to the counties it serves.
Western OTB has had about $250,000 in losses at its betting branches this year, but has had a profit of about $1.5 million at the video-lottery facility, which has 605 machines, officials said.
Overall in New York, video lottery terminal sales grew 3.3 percent in the first half of the fiscal year. Mega Millions sales were up 37 percent.
The trend across most of the rest of the nation for state-run lotteries has been downward.
