Senate Bill S6197

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6197

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in
relation to antitrust exemptions for horse racing agreements


 PURPOSE :
To permit racetracks and other racing event producers or retailers to
band together to establish agreements governing the scheduling of
their races and to establish joint agreements involving the sale and
purchase of broadcasting and simulcasting rights.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Section 1: Adds a new Racing & Wagering Law section 113 to grant
antitrust immunity to certain agreements among entities licensed by
the Racing & Wagering Board to conduct wagering. These entities would
be granted anti-trust immunity to develop agreements which coordinate
the dates and times of their races and are also given immunity to
enter into contracts involving the joint purchase or sale of their
broadcasts, simulcasts, and electronic transmissions. All such
agreements must be approved by the Racing & Wagering Board. The
standard of review is that such agreements must protect the continued
viability of the State's horse racing and agricultural industries.

 EXISTING LAW :
              

Such agreements may, under current law, violate the State and Federal
anti-trust laws.

 JUSTIFICATION :
Attendance at racetracks and real betting handle in New York has been
falling rapidly for the past 40 years. Racetracks need a better way of
competing with other gambling and entertainment attractions. This bill
allows such racing event producers and retailers to combine forces to
make joint arrangements on both the scheduling and the times of their
races, or to sell and/or purchase broadcast and simulcast rights.
Making such joint cooperative arrangements may lead to better national
market penetration of the State's racing products and help to reduce
overhead costs and competition among New York's racing producers so
that OTB's can effectively market each racetrack's products.

All agreements would need to be approved by the Racing & Wagering
Board so that only those agreements that promote the State's
legitimate interests in advancing our local horse racing and
agricultural industries would be approved. This bill ensures that
future joint agreements do not run afoul of the Federal and State
anti-trust laws. It is arguable that some joint arrangements between
competitive racetracks could pose antitrust questions. The need to
preserve the State's ailing racetracks should, however, outweigh any
limited anti-competitive effects of any joint marketing or horse race
production agreements: The U.S. Supreme Court, under Parker v.  Brown,
317 US 341 (1943) grants states the statutory authority to confer
immunity for the Sherman Anti-trust Act for certain government
sanctioned activities. The second section of this bill is modeled on
15 U.S.c. Section 1291 which grants anti-trust immunity to broadcasts
for certain professional leagues.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
This bill is similar to S.2130 of 2003, but has been revised to take
into account comments by Governor Pataki in his veto message.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None.
 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediate.