Posted Dec 4, 2025, 3:57 PM
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https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/licensing/analysis-new-york-casino-projects-rationale/
Why New York casino finalists are still far from sure things after key board approval
All three New York casino finalists were approved to advance this week, but the underlying analysis showed a number of concerns with the bids.
4th December 2025
By Jess Marquez
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After two months of deliberations behind closed doors, the board’s decision to greenlight all of the remaining applicants — Bally’s Bronx, Metropolitan Park and Resorts World NYC — means that all three could receive licences. However, there is no guarantee that the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) will choose to do so. The commission has until 31 December to make that final ruling.
The GFLB’s evaluations were laid out in its rationale report. The board was perhaps hamstrung by the increasing need to award all three licences to maintain the level of allotted funding that has been pencilled in by the state. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority in particular is counting on casino tax and licence revenue in future years.
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But while the concise public announcement from the board garnered shouts of “shame on you!” from onlookers and skepticism from local media about “rubber stamping” the three applicants, the in-depth rationale was riddled with phrases like “disappointed” and “concerned”, with repeated calls to the NYSGC and local officials to hold bidders to their various commitments. This was especially true of hiring, diversity and community benefit pledges.
Overall, the board and its consultants projected that all licensees could produce $5.5 billion in gross gaming revenue by 2033, the projected market stabilisation year. This projection fell “in between the estimates provided by Applicants”, the rationale said.
Specifically, Bally’s projection was below the board’s, while Metropolitan Park’s was “closely aligned” and Resorts World’s “significantly exceeded the consultants’ estimate, primarily due to assumptions related to tourism and high-end play”.
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Of the individual applicants, the board’s evaluation of Resorts World was arguably the most critical.
The existing video lottery terminal facility has long been considered the strongest frontrunner for a New York casino licence because of its quick speed-to-market ability (projected for March 2026) and the aggressive tax rates it proposed. Resorts World proposed rates of 56% for slots and 30% for table games, while Bally’s pitched 30% and 10%, and Metropolitan Park pitched 25% and 10%.
Indeed, those two components “were determinative factors in the Board’s decision to recommend Resorts World to the Commission for consideration of a license”, the rationale said.
Yet the board poked several holes in the details of the bid, including the tax rates. Once other bidders’ numbers were made public, Resorts World reportedly asked that its rates be lowered to match those of other applicants if approved. This was met with clear objection from board members.
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“The Board’s recommendation that Resorts World New York City be considered by the N.Y.S. Gaming Commission for a license is based upon the tax rates it bid, not on the lower rates it now would like to apply,” the document said.
Resorts World’s aggressive slot and table counts were also not accepted, per the rationale. The facility proposed 6,000 slots and 780 tables, but “its illustration of gaming configurations showed only 4,635 slots and 534 tables”, so the board recommended licensure at that lower number “to ensure the quality of visitors’ experience”.
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The overall cost of the project and associated commitments is pegged at $7.5 billion, with Resorts World’s investment listed at $3.3 billion.
But the board “was disappointed that only 1 percent of the investment is projected to benefit firms in Queens — that extremely low rate should be improved”. This is perhaps surprising given the facility’s longstanding track record in Queens and its unanimous support in the community input stage.
Resorts World has announced a litany of community benefits and programs, but their exact value was hard for the board to evaluate. Both of the other applicants listed precise benefit dollar amounts in the rationale, unlike Resorts World. A primary reason for this, the board said, was that some of the commitments were “tied to land not owned or controlled by Resorts World”.
“The Board views the discussion with the Community Advisory Committee of vague benefits that are extremely conjectural as inappropriately confusing, and urges the Commission and the elected officials involved in the Community Advisory Committee to find ways to hold Resorts World to the spirit of those benefits regardless of all the contingencies.”
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Finally, Resorts World failed to disclose fines against all three of its existing New York casino properties, including the proposed downstate site. It did disclose the $10.5 million anti-money laundering fine against its Las Vegas Strip casino, but it did not provide details.
“The Board views this lack of transparency as concerning and recommends that the Commission weigh this in its licensing evaluation,” the rationale said.
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