Two years after being rejected by New York authorities for a license Tioga Downs is open as a full-scale casino, one of four new Las Vegas-style commercial gaming venues coming to the state.
“We’re the first ones,” exclaimed American Racing and Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gural at the December 2 opening. “It’s been a labor of love.”
The New York City property developer, whose company owns the harness track, located in the town of Nichols in the south-central part of the state, bought the track out of extinction and helped lead the drive to amend the New York Constitution to allow commercial casinos. When legislation was passed to regulate them, Tioga Downs was remade as a racino with hundreds of video lottery terminals.
The operation proved a boon to the surrounding community. In its first full year of operation, 2007, net win was $42.8 million on total bets of $527 million. But when it came time to license the new casinos Tioga Downs’ application was rejected by a state-appointed siting committee. Local reaction was swift. Area lawmakers pressed Governor Andrew Cuomo to reopen the competition. Gural amended his initial bid with a stronger proposal and was approved.
In all, American Racing is investing $200 million in a 32,600-square-foot casino with more than 900 slot machines at full build-out and 33 live table games. With the tables Gural expects the casino will clear $100 million in win its first full year, and plans are in the works to add a 160-room hotel, a spa, more restaurants and a venue for exhibitions and events.
The other three licensees are Del Lago Resort and Casino, which has set a February 1 opening in the Finger Lakes region west of Syracuse, Montreign Resort Casino in the Catskills and Rivers Casino & Resort in the northeast near Schenectady.
