At a meeting on June 16, the Gaming Facility Location Board of the New York State Gaming Commission unanimously approved two monetary conditions for prospective bidders competing for one of three downstate casino licenses.
Key takeaways
- The Gaming Facility Location Board finalized two details operators must meet to get a casino license.
- Casino applicants will need to pay a $500 million license fee as well as $500 million in capital investment.
- Bids for NYC downtown casino licenses end June 27.
The board authorized a $500 million license fee and a $500 million capital requirement for applicants, setting a high monetary hurdle as the state proceeds with its long-anticipated casino gaming expansion in the New York City metro area.
Applications must be received by June 27, and the state will grant licenses by year's end. However, applicants must meet other requirements before they can qualify.
All projects must complete all work on zoning, land use entitlement, and environmental reviews by Sept. 30. These demands, particularly zoning approvals, put immense time pressures on operators because most local governments operate with compacted review and decision-making deadlines.
A Community Advisory Committee (CAC) will review every submitted application, a prerequisite intended to measure community support for each casino proposal. The CACs are empowered to hold multiple public meetings and must have a binding vote to determine whether or not a proposal moves forward in the selection process.
A two-thirds majority is required for approval. Each CAC has a varying composition depending on each bid's location. For bids placed within New York City, CAC members will include Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and the impacted state senator, assembly member, borough president, and city council member from the district.
Proposal application deadline approaching
There are less than two weeks left in the application deadline, and eight casino operators remain in the mix. Active bidders include Caesars Palace Times Square, Freedom Plaza in Queens, Metropolitan Park in Citi Field's neighborhood, MGM's Empire City in Yonkers, and Resorts World in Aqueduct.
The sole proposal remaining outside New York City's five boroughs is MGM's Empire City.
Two of the larger casino operators withdrew from the recent competitive process. Wynn Resorts pulled out of its bid for a casino at Hudson Yards in Manhattan in May, citing ongoing resistance to its proposal.
The project was in development with Related Companies. One month earlier, Las Vegas Sands withdrew from competition for a license at the Nassau Coliseum site on Long Island, citing future market uncertainty with ongoing negotiations over the possible legalization of internet casino gambling in New York.
Saks Fifth Avenue also considered competing for a casino license but dropped out in April.
