Jason Ader, CEO of SpringOwl Asset Management and a former member of the Las Vegas Sands board, has announced a futuristic plan for a Big Apple casino: a $3 billion resort with a cryptocurrency trading floor, an esports arena and a landing pad for flying cars. Appropriately, it would be called Mirai, the Japanese word for “future.”
“The goal is to have a differentiated but comprehensive approach to entertainment that goes beyond casino gaming with some pretty cool elements,” Ader said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
While he’s angling for a site in Manhattan, city officials have previously opposed the idea of a casino in the city’s main borough. Other sites under consideration are Long Island and neighboring counties in New York State.
According to Casino.org., December 10 was the deadline for bidders to respond to the New York State Gaming Commission’s request for information (RFI) about downstate commercial casinos. The Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts were also expected to participate.
A 2013 gaming expansion act authorized up to seven commercial casinos in the state, but included a 10-year moratorium on downstate properties. The plan was to allow four upstate gaming resorts to operate free of competition for that period. The ban will continue through 2023, then downstate will be officially open for business.
Ader would partner on the project with Universal Entertainment, the Japanese gaming and entertainment company that owns Okada Manila in the Philippines. His special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), 26 Capital Acquisition Corp., recently partnered with the resort and is now listed on Nasdaq under the ticker ADER, reported Business Insider.
It’s likely that two VLT casinos will win two of the full-scale licenses: MGM’s Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway and Genting Group’s Resorts World New York City in Queens. The racinos also have electronic table games. The broader licenses would allow them to bring in the latest slot machines, live-dealer table games and sports betting.
