MGM Resorts’ stunning departure from the downstate New York Casino race just two months before a decision announcement has ended plans for what would have been one of the nation’s highest-grossing casinos. The ripple effects for the company, its existing New York property, and its home city of Yonkers will be felt for years to come.
Key Takeaways
- MGM Resorts abruptly withdrew from the New York downstate casino race, ending its $2-billion plan to expand Empire City and leaving its future uncertain.
- The company cited a reduced 15-year license term and increased competition among nearby casino bids, including Bally’s Bronx proposal, as reasons for its exit.
- Yonkers officials blasted the move as a “betrayal,” warning it jeopardizes the city’s largest taxpayer and employer while costing the community millions in potential annual revenue.
MGM Empire City Background
New York policymakers approved a 2013 bill that would allow up to three downstate casino licenses to be awarded as early as 2023. MGM bought the century-old Yonkers racetrack in 2019 for $850 million in cash and stocks with the not-so-subtle plan that the facility, which started offering slot machines in 2006, would earn a full-scale casino license in the ensuing years.
After years of delays, public hearings, and community meetings, MGM’s plans for a more than $2 billion-dollar renovation were approved by a local community advisory board. It was one of just four properties, out of more than a dozen, to advance to the final stage of the consideration process. Along with Resorts World New York City in Queens, it was a heavy favorite to earn one of the bids.
Of the surviving bids, MGM notably committed less than its three rivals: $8 billion from Hard Rock near Citi Field in Queens; $4 billion from Bally’s in The Bronx; and $4 billion from the Resorts World proposal. The financial commitment was a key determinant in the length of a gaming license, as laid out by state gaming officials at the beginning of the application process.
In a release announcing the dropped bid, MGM said state regulators told the company it would only be eligible for a 15-year license instead of the “required” 30-year license it needed to justify the investment. MGM said the state had changed the license term late in the license decision process.
The company also citied a changed competitive balance among the four applicants.
"The newly defined competitive landscape - with four proposals clustered in a small geographic area - challenges the returns we initially anticipated from this project,” MGM wrote in a statement.
The Bronx proposal, at Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point, is roughly a 20-minute drive away - the nearest would-be competitor geographically. It was originally rejected by local officials before a veto by Mayor Eric Adams advanced the project to the final stage.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, who along with the city leaders had cheered on the project, said in a statement Tuesday that the decision “defies all logic” and is “nothing short of a betrayal” to city and county residents. He called for Gov. Kathy Hochul to investigate MGM because the rationale for dropping the bid “just doesn’t make sense.”
INBOX: Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano says the MGM decision to drop its bid for a full casino license "defies all logic" and calls for an investigation – AND says, "People need to be assured that there is no linkage b/t MGM's decision and the massive financial benefit to Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/AfXyY6XVim
— Sophie Krichevsky (she/her/hers) (@skrichev13) October 14, 2025
Spano also said MGM should be investigated for any link with the Trump Administration, as Trump's business organization would receive $115 million as part of Bally’s purchase of the president’s former golf property if it is awarded a casino license.
It’s possible MGM could have dismissed the possibility of a competitor in The Bronx after the initial community board rejection, but it would seem the company wouldn’t have spent years (and nearly a $1 billion) on acquiring the Yonkers property if it hadn’t at least considered the possibility of other nearby casinos.
By dropping out just ahead of the expected December license announcement, MGM now leaves its Empire City casino properties’ future undetermined.
What’s next for Empire City, Yonkers?
MGM and community leaders said during public hearings on the license that the facility needed the multi-billion dollar improvement to survive financially. In a statement announcing its withdrawal, MGM said it was committed to the property “in its current form.”
But that means something changed in the month between MGM submitting its casino bid and the announcement it would no longer pursue it.
The revamped Empire City fit MGM’s regional casino business model of high-end properties in markets where it is the dominant (or only) casino operator. An aging racetrack does not.
The company sold its Gold Strike casino in Tunica, Mississippi, several years ago and has been rumored to be looking to divest itself of its Ohio and Massachusetts properties. Empire City could be the next such sale.
But such a deal would require a partner, and it’s unclear how an international gaming giant that had lost interest in such a project would find a buyer that has the capital and capacity to succeed where MGM thought it couldn’t.
MGM was such a heavy favorite to earn one of the three bids because it had strong public support and the existing casino infrastructure. If New York state regulators don’t award all three bids to the three remaining candidates this year, it potentially opens a path for a new operator to try for a license at Yonkers where MGM wouldn’t.
A scenario where another company takes over Empire City and earns a full-scale casino license appears even less likely than MGM’s shocking decision to drop its bid.
In the meantime, the future of Yonkers' largest private employer and taxpayer remains in limbo. The community has already lost tens of millions of dollars in unrealized annual tax revenues it can no longer potentially gain from the full casino license.
Like most other U.S. horse tracks, it will likely face declining attendance and revenues, even with the aid of its electronic slots and table games. And that’s before what could be up to three new full-scale casino competitors opening in the coming years.
