- New York’s on line casino licensing course of has largely been a bust
- The state’s tediously sluggish course of curbed enthusiasm amongst main gamers, together with Sands, Wynn, and MGM
Downstate New York was as soon as seen as probably the most coveted untapped on line casino market in america — maybe the world. However as the method to award the three licenses earmarked for New York Metropolis, Lengthy Island, or Westchester County moved sluggishly, and financial and working local weather circumstances deteriorated, at the very least within the eyes of some licensee hopefuls. State officers now have solely three bids to think about — and there are rising issues one other bidder would possibly bail out.
Downtown Manhattan amid darkish, gloomy clouds. The New York on line casino course of has rapidly misplaced its attractiveness within the eyes of some massive on line casino corporations. (Picture: Shutterstock)
New York’s 2013 gaming invoice approved as much as 4 casinos upstate and three downstate. The statute supplied the upstate casinos with a 10-year exclusivity on downstate competitors.
The moratorium on the downstate slots and table-game concessions lifted in February 2023. Virtually 1,000 days later, the New York Metropolis area licenses stay unawarded.
The state dragging its toes, together with different elements corresponding to native pushback, the state’s consideration of iGaming, and 15 as a substitute of 30-year licenses, has resulted in lots of casinos shedding curiosity.
Japan Clone?
New York’s on line casino licensing course of has an analogous really feel to Japan, the place the nation’s lawmakers in 2018 voted to authorize as much as three built-in resort (IR) casinos.
As soon as thought of the best alternative since China opened up its on line casino market in Macau in 1999, Japan’s sluggish rulemaking and bidding development resulted in all however MGM Resorts and Casinos Austria abandoning their plans. Japan in the end solely greenlit the MGM Osaka bid, leaving two on line casino permits unissued.
As was the case in Japan, Las Vegas Sands (Lengthy Island) was the primary to exit in New York. Wynn Resorts (Hudson Yards West), which prepped bids in Japan and NYC, additionally withdrew its bids earlier than the bidding formally opened.
New York State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens) was among the many state lawmakers who voted in favor of the 2013 on line casino invoice. Addabbo, who chairs the New York State Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming, and Wagering, says the state must act quick after MGM abruptly pulled its Empire Metropolis On line casino bid in Yonkers on Tuesday.
MGM’s exit left solely Resorts World’s challenge on the Queens Aqueduct Racetrack, Laborious Rock and Steve Cohen’s bid at Willets Level, and Bally’s Bronx.
Addabbo tells Bloomberg that the New York Gaming Facility Location Board ought to transfer as rapidly as doable to award the three licenses to the remaining bidders to make sure that the state receives its full good thing about authorizing casinos within the first place — substantial tax income, job creation, and regional financial exercise.
I don’t see why the state wouldn’t award the final three licenses to the final three candidates,” stated Addabbo.
RW has lengthy been perceived as a front-runner for one of many licenses because of its longstanding dedication in Queens with its video lottery Resorts World NYC racino. MGM was additionally a frontrunner, and its withdrawal has some involved that the exit will immediate Genting, the proprietor and operator of RW, to additionally research whether or not its $7.5 billion funding can be a sound monetary transfer.
MGM Departure a Internet Constructive
Barry Jonas at Truist Securities stated in a word reacting to the MGM Yonkers information that the corporate’s choice is probably going good for buyers. Jonas stated there have been issues a few “winner’s curse,” as Empire Metropolis is considerably farther from Midtown Manhattan than the three different remaining bids and subsequently might damage its competitiveness.
We see this as a constructive for MGM, which now frees up capital for doubtlessly higher makes use of,” Jonas wrote.
Jonas additionally questioned whether or not “all, some, or not one of the remaining three purposes will probably be awarded.”
