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Paul DeRose, facilities director for the Connecticut OTB, is photographed inside the simulcast area of Sports Haven with reduced seating for social distancing.
Photo: Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut MediaPaul DeRose, facilities director for the Connecticut OTB, is photographed inside the simulcast area of Sports Haven with reduced seating for social distancing.
Paul DeRose, facilities director for the Connecticut OTB, is photographed inside the simulcast area of Sports Haven with reduced seating for social distancing.
Paul DeRose, facilities director for the Connecticut OTB, is photographed inside the simulcast area of Sports Haven with reduced seating for social distancing.
NEW HAVEN — The COVID-19 pandemic has had a harsh impact on businesses the past four months, including Connecticut Off-Track Betting, which lost 80 percent of its revenues during the state’s shutdown period.
So it should be no surprise that Connecticut OTB officials were looking forward to Wednesday. It’s the first day that Connecticut OTB facilities will reopen since Gov. Ned Lamont first ordered a statewide shutdown of non-essential businesses on March 23.
“We’re all very glad to begin reopening our OTB facilities, it’s a very exciting time for us,” said Ted Taylor, president of Sportech, which operates Connecticut OTB. “We have lost 80 percent of revenue statewide due to the shutdown. The only plus has been we’ve been able to continue operating our online (horserace) betting. Online betting only represents about 20 percent of our revenue, but it would have been nasty not to have that in place because it helped pay the bills.”
Taylor said July 20 has always been the target date for reopening Connecticut OTB. When Lamont issued the shutdown of non-essential businesses, back in March he stipulated that OTB sites would be closed until July 20, due in part to its betting component. Taylor decided to take it slow when it comes to reopening with only six of its 12 existing facilities opening Wednesday. All OTB facilities will have a different, reduced look as social distancing needs forced a reorganized floor plan/seating plan at each venue.
“On Wednesday we are reopening Sports Haven, Shoreline Star (in Bridgeport), Bradley (Teletheater in Windsor Locks) and OTB facilities in Stamford, Waterbury and Hartford,” Taylor said. “Those venues are our biggest OTB sites and the large space in those buildings allowed a much easier process to redesign our floor to ensure we can maintain social distancing.
“Those six sites also cover most of the state. Our remaining smaller six OTB sites in Milford, Norwalk, Torrington, Manchester, New Britain and Putnam will reopen as soon as we can. Like every other business we want to reopen. But when we opened, we wanted to do it properly by satisfying the state guidelines with the safety of our customers the highest priority..”
Longtime OTB customers will see a slightly different venue when they walk in. Each OTB venue will reflect the same changes that have been made in Sports Haven.
All patrons will be required to wear masks.
There will be no restaurants open at the larger venues with only snack bars providing food. No alcohol will be served. In order to satisfy social distancing guidelines, only two seats will be available at each table and all seating, tables and electronic betting machines are spaced six feet apart. There will be live parimutuel tellers selling and cashing betting tickets with plexiglass separating bettors and tellers.
All sites will only have 50 percent capacity. There will be staff at the doors counting people as they come in. Connecticut OTB Director of Facilities Paul DeRose said Sports Haven’s 50 percent capacity is at 400 along with Bradley Teletheater. Shoreline Star’s 50 percent capacity is at 1,300.
There will be signage throughout the venues indicating one way walking areas. Sanitizer stanchions have been installed with large bottles of sanitizer that will be available throughout the venue for patrons to use when needed. Certain members of the staff will be on constant cleaning and sanitizing duty. Staff will wear masks and gloves.
While facilities will open at 11:30 a.m., all venues will close earlier than usual due to a reduction in horse racing available at night. Most venues will close at 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and will close at 8 p.m. other days.
DeRose said OTB staff statewide have been preparing for a reopening since April. The cost to prepare for a reopening, reorganizing floor plans, providing sanitizer and getting the needed PPE (masks, shields and gloves) has been over $30,000 statewide.
“There have been various costs to reopen that were necessary to ensure a safe environment for customers,” DeRose said. “This includes about $4,000 for sanitizer stanchions and $5,000 for plexiglass. Our cleaning company has been following COVID-19 procedures and we are covered there. In house, our staff will roam the floor and will be as diligent as possible with cleaning procedures.
“Because we redesigned our seating, we’ve also had to find areas in the building to store furniture we had to take off the floor to follow social distancing guidelines.”
Taylor and DeRose said Connecticut OTB officials will meet on Friday to discuss how the limited reopening went on Wednesday and Thursday and whether adjustments will be needed.
“The big thing now is gauging what the business is going to look like,” DeRose said. “We hope people come out to our facilities. We are planning for a normal crowd, but who knows if people will come out. It will be a day-by-day process and we will be reassessing our plans as needed.”
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