The New York Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB) has issued a 613-page document that answers the first round of questions from applicants for three downstate casino licenses.
The questions, submitted between January 3 and February 3, covered topics gambling companies and developers were most concerned with at the earliest stages of the process.
Potential applicants now have 30 days to digest this document and submit a second round of questions.
The questions included everything from file formats and how big the sheets of paper of the application should be to high-level questions about the diversity and spending requirements. According to a report in SBC Americas, the answers shed some new light on topics that are of interest to more than just the applicants.
For example, anyone receiving a downstate casino license will be able to offer a retail sportsbook as part of the property.
The cost of the project was also the subject of several questions. The initial license fee will be, at minimum $500 million, though applicants can submit a higher bid than that. There is also a minimum capital expenditure expectation of $500 million to build the facility.
In answers to other questions, the GFLB noted that the gaming licenses may last for at least 10 years, but the board would not guarantee that term.
“The commission will consider the proposed licensing term in relation to the total financial and economic value of the applicant’s proposal in relation to other applicants’ proposals,” the report said.
Other questions concerned the requirement for community involvement in the license decisions and casino locations. The gaming law created Community Advisory Committees (CAC) to offer input on the decisions. Some questions concerned how these committees will be chosen. The answers cast some light on the selection but remained cryptic about what particular people might serve, according to the SBC report.
The board did note that one person can serve on multiple CACs, to address possible projects in geographic areas that overlap.
The second round of questions is due by October 6. There is no deadline for responses to those questions, which raises the possibility that it may be several more months before the next phase of the long New York casino selection process may be complete.
There are 11 applicants currently vying for the three available downstate licenses. Many expect two of those three licenses will be awarded to the state’s two existing racinos, Resorts World New York City in Queens and Empire City Casino in Yonkers, which would leave 11 bidders vying for a single license.
The five-month gap between the first questions being due and the GFLB’s responses is of concern to many local officials hoping for new tax revenues from the projects. The downstate casinos are projected to create thousands of jobs, millions in local taxes and billions in gambling revenue.
In January, state Senator Joe Addabbo, D-Queens, chair of the Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, noted that the state’s best interest would be served by a quick selection process.
“The quicker the three licenses are approved,” Addabbo said, “the quicker we can begin to realize the major benefits to the state, such as thousands of construction and post-construction jobs, billions in revenue from the licenses, an increase in problem gambling monies and programs, as well as billions more in educational funding when the winning casinos go live.”
