Todd Otto, seen here in the video control room, has been in charge of Fonner Park's simulcasting program since its inception 20 years ago.
Independent/Scott Kingsley
The video control room has many receivers like these that bring the signal in from other tracks for simulcasting at Fonner Park.
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In the 21st century, racetracks not only cater to fans of live racing, but they have also become partners with other racetracks in the venture of simulcasting.
For those unfamiliar with the term, simulcasting is taking a live feed of races from another venue and making them available to place wagers on races from different locales.
At Fonner Park, the person in charge of simulcasting is assistant general manager Todd Otto.
Otto, a 20-year veteran at Fonner Park, has been on the scene of interstate simulcasting from the very beginning.
"We started intrastate simulcasts the year before I started working at Fonner," Otto said.
Intrastate simulcasting was first used to allow race fans in different Nebraska towns with a racetrack such as Grand Island, a chance to bet on races in Omaha, Lincoln, Columbus or South Sioux City. It allowed wagers to be made without the expense of traveling to the city, yet also increased the wagering handles for the state's racetracks.
Intrastate simulcasting worked very well, but with more and more advances in technology, the idea of sharing feeds and wagering with other state's racetracks soon began to take off.
"We started here by taking a few big stake races, such as the Kentucky Derby," Otto said.
As the demand for more product to and from other states came to be, Fonner Park needed to send its signal to other states.
"I thought with our close proximity, Prairie Meadows in Des Moines would be a natural place to take our signal," Otto said.
However, there were major problems at Prairie Meadows. The track in Altoona, Iowa, wasn't making any money on thoroughbred racing.
"I contacted the Prairie Meadows people and they were very receptive to the idea of taking our signal," Otto said. "However, they had real problems, including the fact that they didn't have a satellite receiver or the money to purchase one."
Realizing that success in Altoona would help Nebraska racing, Otto proposed to Fonner Park CEO/GM Hugh Miner that Fonner give Prairie Meadows some help in the simulcast business.
"Hugh contacted a local contractor and guaranteed him that he would be paid if he set this up for Prairie Meadows," Otto said. "Everything worked out great, as Prairie Meadows made money, paid the contractor itself and we were able to export our signal to another state, which increased our business."
Simulcasting at Fonner Park is now a very complex system that consumes the majority of Otto's day.
"We now export our signal to 10 different states and take racing signals in from all over the country," Otto said. "I have to prepare reports every day that show the amount of money that is bet at Fonner on all tracks we import and also have to prepare reports each live racing day that shows how much money was wagered on our races from different states."
Always looking for new avenues to send its signal to, Otto was pleased that the state of Illinois is now taking Fonner's signal on Friday afternoons.
"We just started last week sending our signal to Hawthorne Park and all the Illinois off-track betting facilities," Otto said. "The results in the first week were just fantastic as they were, hands down, our No. 1 outlet in wagers for the day."
Otto pointed out that this helps the regular patrons at Fonner as well as it creates larger betting pools to bet into.
"When we can increase our betting pools, it really helps our regular customers," Otto said. "We like to help our regular customers anyway we can."
Otto tries to make appearances around Fonner Park daily, whether it be on live race days or simulcast days.
"One of the great parts of my job is meeting our patrons," Otto said. "We try and stay on top of things here, so we don't have many problems. Still, I encourage anyone to tell me if there's something we can do to help them and we'll try to correct a problem if any occur."
If there's a drawback to Otto's job, it's one that you might not suspect.
"Sometimes on race days, I'm so busy I might only see three or four of the actual races run," Otto said.
Otto recently started a new venture in the racing business with longtime friend and former Fonner Park track announcer Chris Kotulak.
"I've been friends with Chris even before I came to work at Fonner," Otto said. "In fact, Chris was the best man in my wife's (Dawyn) and my wedding, and now we're business partners."
Otto and Kotulak, along with some other friends, have dabbled in owning some race horses competing in California.
"It's been pretty low-key," Otto said. "We actually claimed a horse at Los Alamitos and ran him once, winning the race, and having him claimed from us.
"It's been a lot of fun. We might look to get another horse out there sometime in the future."
However, it's Nebraska and Fonner Park where Otto's loyalties run deepest.
"Mr. Miner and the Fonner Park board have been great to me," Otto said. "I love the races, the racing business and our customers here in Grand Island."
As far as simulcasting goes, Otto is very proud of the services provided at Fonner.
"We provide everything we can," Otto said. "If you like betting on live horse races or simulcasting, you'll find it here."
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