Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The New York Racing Association soon will be unveiling a new digital platform/application, NYRA Now, that will provide an unprecedented menu of live and on-demand video options for horseplayers and fans. The free service, expected to launch as early as mid-to-late February, will be available for both Apple iOS and Android devices. Around the time of the Belmont Park spring meet's opening, NYRA Now will be expanded to eight different operating platforms, including Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, Xbox and PS4.

NYRA Now, which will replace the current NYRA HD app, is the boldest step into the digital future by any North American racetrack organization. Among other things, it will offer a viewer's choice of multiple camera angles for live racing in high definition at Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga, sortable replays and on-demand video options for both recent and historic races. Think in terms of something akin to Major League Baseball's mlb.tv.

This is the latest forward-looking move by the New York Racing Association under the leadership of president and CEO Chris Kay, senior director for television Dan Silver and television executive producer Tony Allevato (a veteran television executive who also serves as president of the company's wagering platform, NYRA Bets).

In 2016, NYRA unveiled live broadcasts during the Belmont Park spring meeting on MSG Network, transitioning from taped programming and replay shows that digital platforms were rendering obsolete. During its premier Saratoga meet, NYRA expanded to a 2 ½-hour live program, “Saratoga Live,” that was part of a major television deal Allevato brokered with Fox Sports 2 and regional networks Altitude and MSG+.

During its annual International Simulcast Conference last September, Thoroughbred Racing Associations recognized NYRA for what it called “extraordinary achievement in daily racing presentation” for its “Saratoga Live” telecasts. Even New York's most abrasive sports TV critic, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, lauded the debut of “Saratoga Live” in a July 24 column, calling it “the weekend's most satisfying TV.” A few weeks later, Mushnick said “Saratoga Live” remained “impressive as tight yet relaxed productions. They're informative, interesting and alert to visually and verbally based track stories … Its opinion-speakers, as a matter of good faith and good humor, are quick to acknowledge when their touts run out. Pregame/halftime studio show producers could learn from it.”

Look for NYRA's live television programming to return to MSG in the spring and there are discussions to expand its presence this summer on Fox Sports 2, which is currently available in some 52 million homes.

NYRA also relaunched individual “mobile first” websites for Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga, and just last week unveiled the new BelmontStakes.com website for information on the Triple Crown's third leg.

As NYRA invested more on live television programming for television and the delivery of cutting edge, high definition options for its digital platforms, difficult decisions had to be made regarding existing properties and personnel.

Effective Jan. 1, NYRA's live simulcast signal was no longer available on cable television in the five boroughs of New York City (though it is still available in Nassau and Suffolk Counties throughout Long Island). The New York City cable telecasts were in low definition and, according to a report in Daily Racing Form, came at a cost of $500,000 annually. The decision, communicated to customers two weeks in advance, was a strategic one that focused on NYRA's improving digital properties that give fans the opportunity to view live racing free and in high definition at NYRA.com or the NYRA HD app.

In addition, NYRA eliminated the position held by popular and knowledgeable host and analyst Jason Blewitt, who joined the company in 1998 and whose various television duties included hosting a nightly replay show that was eliminated last summer.

Patrick McKenna, NYRA's director of communications, declined to comment on the reason the position was eliminated but said NYRA “appreciates Jason's contributions over the years and wish him nothing but the best in his endeavors.”

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