Following an extended session last week, lawmakers in the New York Senate and Assembly have approved senate bill SB 9673A, presented by Senator Joe Addabbo, to enforce a strict deadline on selecting three casinos to be built in downstate New York.
Lawmakers stayed past the June 6 end of the New York Legislature specifically to vote on the bill.
Governor Kathy Hochul must now approve the bill before it comes into effect. If the proposal is approved, applications for the three casino licenses will be considered until Aug. 31.
Following a late addition to the bill from Addabbo, the New York Gaming Facility Location Board must make recommendations on casinos by Dec. 31, 2025. The final deadline to issue licenses is now March 31, 2026. The application process opened in 2022.
SB 9673A passed the Senate with a majority of 51-4 and the Assembly by 51-9. The initial bill was introduced on May 17, two weeks before the final session of the New York Legislature. Addabbo’s first version of the bill had the deadline for issuing licenses a full year earlier in March 2025.
Addabbo estimates that each of the three downstate U.S. casino real money licenses could attract a $1 billion bid from prospective developers. The Senator expects the state to receive $3 billion through licensing fees. The bill has language to ensure that some revenue from the new casinos will be allocated to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Zivhas been deep in the iGaming trenches for over 20 years, long before most people could spell "geolocation compliance." With a background in marketing and business development at some of the biggest names in gambling tech, Ziv knows the industry from the inside out. Since joining Covers, he's turned his sharp eye (and sharper keyboard) toward everything happening in the fast-moving world of online gambling. Whether it's new state launches, the latest twists in regulation, or what the big operators and game providers are cooking up next, Ziv breaks it all down with clarity, context, and just the right amount of snark. He covers the business side of betting, from affiliate trends and revenue reports to the tech powering your favorite slots. His motto in writing is “let’s make it make sense without putting you to sleep.”
When he’s not tracking gambling legislation or looking for the next breaking story, Ziv is living and dying with every pitch and play from his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. As a Pitt graduate, it’s a city loyalty forged in heartbreak, but one he wouldn’t trade for anything, except maybe a few more playoff wins.
When away from the keyboard, Ziv loves to hit the road and soak up the energy of casinos. Whether strolling the neon jungle called the Vegas Strip, or wandering into a smoky riverboat casino in the Midwest, Ziv’s in his element. He’s the guy chatting with players, blackjack dealers, and asking pit bosses way too many questions, all in the name of “research,” of course. The casino floor isn’t just his workplace, it’s a weird and wonderful ecosystem of flashing lights, wild characters, and pure sensory overload, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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