The New York Gaming Commission (NYGC) last week named officials to the board that will oversee decisions on where downstate casinos will be located in the New York City metropolitan area.
The NYGC named former New York City Housing Commissioner Vicki Been, New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Quenia Abreau and former Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz to the panel.
Officials are expected to issue requests for proposals to win a license for opening and operating up to three casinos in the region. Licenses are not expected to be issued until 2023.
New York is expanding casino gaming as part of an agreement earlier this year in the state budget that ended the exclusivity clauses for upstate casinos. Currently, there are four commercially operated casinos north of the New York City area in addition to the casinos operated by Native American tribes.
Casino developers and gambling interests have long eyed New York City as a major market, given the potential pull of tourism dollars. However, the two VLT racinos, MGM’s Empire City at Yonkers Raceway, and Genting’s Resorts World NYC at Aqueduct, are expected to get two of the three licenses.
More broadly, the state has expanded gambling in recent years to include sportsbooks in casinos as well as mobile gaming apps.
Some industry observers have questioned whether the Northeast market for gambling is overly saturated, making it difficult for casinos amid intense competition. New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have all become major players in the industry in recent years, thanks to the expansion of land-based casinos, iGaming and sports betting.
New York is one of the states most likely to add online gaming in the near future.
One reason given was the fact regulatory infrastructure is already in place, thanks to the state’s legalized online and mobile sportsbooks.
“They already have regulators in place,” said Richard Schwartz, CEO of Rush Street Interactive, which owns BetRivers. “They have servers in place. It’s quicker to start up a casino addition.”
iGaming is currently legal in just six states: New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Connecticut. According to BettingUSA, those markets generated $3.7 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2021.
