Cuomo's signing of FanDuel bill puts Batavia Downs' wheels in motion

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to legalize interactive fantasy sports in New York State couldn't have come at a better time for Western Regional Off-Track Corp., which recently signed a four-year deal with FanDuel to offer fantasy sports competition at Batavia Downs Gaming and at some of its OTB branches.

"We are very excited, and since we have a team flying down on Friday to FanDuel headquarters (in New York City) to meet with company officials, the timing of this is very good for Western Regional Off-Track Betting," said Michael P. Nolan, WROTB chief operating officer Wednesday night.

Earlier Wednesday, the governor signed bill S.8153/A.10736 that requires fantasy sports companies to register with, and operate under regulations issued by, the New York State Gaming Commission. It is expected that once fully implemented, the legislation will generate approximately $4 million in revenue to fund state education aid.

Nolan said that he expects WROTB's contract with FanDuel to be approved by the Gaming Commission in time for Batavia Downs Gaming to have its fantasy sports program up and running for the 2016 NFL season.

"Three weeks ago, Nigel Eccles, the co-founder and owner of FanDuel, came to Batavia and we gave him a tour of Batavia Downs and a few of our branches," Nolan said. "With this agreement, Western New Yorkers can expect the FanDuel product to be much more prominent in this area, and we will be bringing more people into Genesee County."

The WROTB-FanDuel partnership is truly that -- "a 100 percent incentive-based partnership," Nolan said.

"We feel that FanDuel is the best fantasy sports provider in the world and that's who we want to be associated with," he added.

Nolan said that he along with WROTB President Henry F. Wojtaszek and a few other members of the project's operations team will be going to New York City on Friday. He noted that while other race tracks and casinos in the state have voiced opposition to legalizing fantasy sports (claiming that it would hurt their businesses), WROTB management sees FanDuel's "synergy" with Batavia Downs Gaming's business model and "agreed that this was the best direction to proceed."

The governor's action ends a battle between New York State and the fantasy sports companies (Draft Kings is the other major player). State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had unleashed investigations, lawsuits and regulations to shut them down, calling them illegal gambling ventures that raked in around $200 million in entry fees from more than a half-million customers in New York in 2015.

In signing the bill, Gov. Cuomo said in a press release that "daily fantasy sports have proven to be popular in New York, but until now have operated with no supervision and no protections for players. This legislation strikes the right balance that allows this activity to continue with oversight from state regulators, new consumer protections, and more funding for education.”

Interactive (online) fantasy sports are games of skill in which contestants assemble a roster of athletes in a given sport and use the actual performance statistics of those athletes to determine the contest’s winner. Contestants pay fees to enter the contest and, if successful in performing against their opponent, win prizes.

In addition to establishing the means for regulating interactive fantasy sports in New York State, this legislation also takes steps to institute important consumer protections for players for the first time, some of which include offering introductory procedures to new players, identifying highly experienced players, prohibiting the participation of minors and protecting players' funds upon deposit.