Legislative deal may cut Batavia Downs out of New York's casino action

It looks like Batavia Downs is a long shot to expand into a full-blown Vegas-style casino with table games and expanding gambling options.

The NYS Legislature took a big step yesterday toward opening up so-called racinos to more casino games, but capped the number of race tracks that can expand at seven.

Western Regional OTB board member Dick Siebert told WBTA that he's very concerned that Batavia Downs is being excluded from the expansion.

“Buffalo Raceway and Batavia Downs are the closest raceways to the Senecas' casinos (in Niagara Falls and Allegany), and they’re the ones putting the heat on the state,” Siebert points out. “So I’ve got a strange but very sound feeling that we’re the two being targeted.”

The seven target locations have not been disclosed.

The Senecas believe they have an exclusive lock on gambling in New York and the legislature may have caved to pressure from the Senecas by excluding Buffalo and Batavia from the expansion.

“They’re behind it,” Siebert said. “They’ve got money, and they’re throwing it around. They don’t want the competition. But not having Batavia Downs be a full casino hurts Western New York a lot more than what might happen to the Senecas.

“I’ll probably get myself in trouble to say it – but it’s the truth,” Siebert added.

Michael Kane, CEO of the Western Regional OTB remains hopeful, however.

“I don’t think it takes Batavia Downs out of the mix at all,” Kane says. “I think the number was just negotiated between the governor and the two houses.”