Western Regional OTB still would have preferred not to release the names of people who it has given event tickets to.
OTB President Henry Wojtaszek said in a hyper-competitive market, the concern was always customer privacy.
"We'd rather it not be out there but there's certainly nothing that we think is embarrassing to us," he said.
After denying previous Freedom of Information Law requests, OTB was facing an appeal and possibly litigation. The corporation's attorney said it was time to give in.
"He convinced us that it was probably smarter from a business perspective to turn them over in the interest of transparency," Wojtaszek said.
The company on Thursday shared hundreds of pages of documents and names of people who received tickets to sporting events like Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans games, shows like Disney on Ice and Cirque du Soleil, and concerts like the Country Megaticket.
Wojtaszek said more than half of the giveaways were part of the Suitestakes program: a computerized drawing of qualified players at Batavia Downs gaming.
"We wanted to make sure that the public had as much information as possible and to dispel a lot of false accusations that were out there," he said.
Former state Sen. George Maziarz, for instance, has suggested that many of the tickets are given to OTB higher-ups and their friends and family. Wojtaszek said roughly 50 employees or board members have served as hosts, but defends the practice.
"As you can imagine, we want to make sure that our guests are taken care of properly, the bill is paid and the suite is left in good shape," he said.
The president said the marketing department also gives complimentary tickets to loyal customers, good employees and charitable causes.
"The gaming commission’s approved them every year and we intend to continue to utilize them because they work," Wojtaszek said.
He said while the list is just now public, regulators have had access to the information since the program started in 2014.
A federal probe into OTB operations is ongoing.