Keynote Speaker
Jeffrey Gural
Be sure to take advantage of a great night of racing and gaming at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway!
Conference Agenda as of June 21
Monday, June 21
| 4:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. | Registration Open |
| 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. | Welcome Reception with Opening Remarks Join us for a welcome reception at the Doubletree. Speaker: Wayne Smith, Chief Operating Officer, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway |
| 7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. | Reception at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway The evening continues as Empire City hosts New York Gaming Summit attendees for a spectacular evening of racing and gaming! Enjoy the races and see what the state’s largest racetrack gaming facility has to offer. Transportation from the Doubletree to Empire City will be provided beginning at 7:30 p.m. |
Tuesday, June 22
| 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Registration Open |
| 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. | Continental Breakfast |
| 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Politics and the law in New York gaming Within a few short months, the Empire State will elect a new governor, who will confront a more difficult set of political and economic problems than any governor-elect in recent memory. Meantime, on the federal front, there’s a new National Indian Gaming Commission in place and the legal relationship between tribes and states continues to evolve. This session will examine the full range of political, legal and regulatory change that figures to impact New York gaming in coming years. Moderator: Steven Paul McSloy, Co-Chair, Native American Practice, Hughes Hubbard & Reed Speakers: James D. Featherstonhaugh, Featherstonhaugh, Wiley & Clyne, LLP; Keller George, Wolf Clan Representative, Oneida Nation Council; Bennett Liebman, Coordinator, Racing and Gaming Law Program, Government Law Center, Albany Law School; John Tahsuda, Vice President, Navigators Global |
| 10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. | Networking Break |
| 10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | Regional overview: The supply/demand game in the Northeast Gaming continues to expand in markets bordering on and close to New York State. To varying degrees, the addition of table games to the Pennsylvania market, the development of casinos in Ohio and the potential for new casinos in Massachusetts all figure to impact the New York gaming market in the near term. At the same time, the state’s own gaming market still isn’t fully built out along the lines originally envisioned in 2001. This session will take a macro view of gaming in the northeast and answer the key questions of how much more supply New York can handle, and what steps need to be taken with existing supply from a regulatory and legislative standpoint to keep the market as competitive as possible. Moderator: Allison McCoy, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Spectrum Gaming Group Speakers: Clyde W. Barrow, Director of the Center for Policy Analysis and Chancellor Professor of Public Policy, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; Cliff Ehrlich, President and General Manager, Monticello Casino & Raceway; Paul Girvan, Managing Director, The Innovation Group; Kyle Tuttle, Senior Vice President, LPCiminelli |
| 11:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | Networking Break |
| 11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. | Marketing success strategies As the gaming industry expands in New York and the surrounding region, growth for the state's gaming operators is increasingly related to the strength of their overall marketing strategies as they compete in overlapping markets. Hear from practitioners of the art of casino marketing how the state's tribal and racetrack gaming operators are generating positive returns on their marketing resources and using new tools in the area of social media to build their brands and cement relationships with their customers. Moderator: Charles Anderer, Group Publisher, Gaming, BNP Media Speakers: Joseph S. Basara, Director, WhiteSand Gaming; Steve Martin, Senior Director of Marketing and Gaming, Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack; Ryan Murphy, Director of Marketing, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway |
| 12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. | Luncheon Keynote Address Speaker: Jeffrey Gural, Chairman, American Racing and Entertainment, L.L.C. |
| 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | The troubled state of horse racing and off-track betting in New York Recent years have not been good for the horse racing industry in New York, headlined by NYRA’s ongoing cash flow problems stemming in part from the state’s inability to get VLTs running at Aqueduct. In early 2010 yet another crisis hit with the bankruptcy of the state-owned New York City Off-Track Betting Corp., and subsequent legislative inaction had its chairman refer to the situation as a “ticking time bomb.” In this lively session, representatives of several industry stakeholders will discuss the need for a long-term solution to keep live racing, off-track betting and Internet/home wagering viable in New York. Moderator: Patricia McQueen, Events Editor, Gaming, BNP Media Speakers: Patrick Placito, Director of Racing and Simulcasting, Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack; Dick Powell, Racing Industry Consultant; John Sabini, Chairman, New York State Racing & Wagering Board; John Van Lindt, Chairman, The Task Force on the Future of Off-Track Betting in New York State |
| 3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. | Networking Break |
| 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. | Racetrack video gaming update It has been more than six years since the first racetrack video gaming machine operation opened in New York, and despite the recession, the industry is perhaps stronger now than it ever has been. Many legislative changes over the years have considerably improved the revenue sharing arrangements from the operators’ perspective, which at first were not conducive to a growing business. Still, there are trouble spots and challenges to overcome, and let’s not forget the ongoing Aqueduct fiasco. This session will review the current status of video gaming in New York and explore its future. Moderator: James Rutherford, Editor, Casino Journal Speakers: Steve Martin, Senior Director of Marketing and Gaming, Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack; Tom Osiecki, President, American Racing and Entertainment, L.L.C.; Michael Palmieri, Director of Video Gaming Operations, Empire City at Yonkers Raceway |
