The New York State Gaming Commission has announced that it is now actively seeking proposals for up to three new casinos to be located in the New York City area.
The state’s gaming officials released a ‘request for expressions of interest’ on Wednesday October 20th in a move designed to gauge the interest of both the public and major gaming operators in establishing casinos in the region. The deadline for the submission of proposals has been set for December 10th.
It’s believed that two of the available licenses could be issued to gaming properties that already run slot machines in the area. These are the Genting-owned Resorts World Aqueduct Casino located in Queens and the Empire City Casino in Yonkers that is owned my MGM Resorts.
Previous reports in the press suggest that Bally’s Corporation, Las Vegas Sands, and Wynn Resorts were all planning to compete for a casino license in New York State should any become available. Should the first two licenses go to Genting and MGM Resorts as expected that would leave those three major players competing for a single license.
According to the Gaming Commission’s announcement, any new casinos could be located anywhere in New York City, Nassau-Suffolk in Long Island and Westchester-Rockland-Putnam counties. However, Manhattan lawmakers are strongly opposed to opening a new casino in Midtown or other parts of New York County.
In the announcement, the Gaming Commission stated:
“The Commission is seeking information to develop a better understanding of interest in the unawarded commercial casino licenses and, if there is interest, what factors should be considered by the State in the development of a process to award such licenses. Accordingly, the Commission is issuing this document to draw input from interested and affected parties.”
According to a recent study carried out by the Gaming Commission, opening three new casinos, or one new casino and converting existing the Aqueduct and Yonkers gaming properties to fully-fledged casinos, could generate additional revenues somewhere in the region of $420 million to $630 million per year.
Online sportsbetting will be legal in January 2022, and online casinos in New York are expected to follow.
Olivia has worked as an editor and writer for major brands across multiple niches. She now focuses on the iGaming and sports betting industries.