June 27, 2025, is the deadline to submit applications for three coveted New York casino licenses, and although the pack has dwindled since announcing the availability of these licenses, there are still expected to be eight groups vying for them.
Qualifying Offers
It has been a long time coming, but the application deadline for three downstate casino licenses has finally arrived. It has been in the making since voters approved a statewide referendum to amend the constitution to sanction casino gambling a dozen years ago. Four casinos were built upstate, giving them a five-year head start on the more desirable and expensive downstate casino licenses.
But Friday, June 27th, has arrived, and it is expected that eight bidders will be contending for three downstate casino licenses to be awarded in December. The projects under consideration hail from slot parlors at Aqueduct Racetrack and Yonkers Raceway, Coney Island in Brooklyn, Citi Field in Queens, a site located near the United Nations, the far West Side, Times Square in Manhattan, and Ferry Point in the Bronx.
The red tape these bidders have had to endure from state and local officials has been arduous, to say the least. And although a Manhattan location would generate the most revenue, local opposition has stalled more than one effort.
The Mohegan-Soloviev Group project, slated for Manhattan’s East Side near the UN, also referred to as “Freedom Plaza,” was the first group to submit its proposal a day ahead of schedule.
Soloviev CEO Michael Hershman said, “This application represents years of meaningful listening and collaboration, and it will uniquely deliver what New Yorkers need most: accessible green space, housing that working families can afford, and well-paying union jobs.”
Folded Tents
The Nassau Coliseum, developed by Las Vegas Sands; the Wynn Resorts project at Hudson Yards; and a Times Square project atop Macy’s flagship store have all withdrawn from the process, citing everything from community opposition to the looming specter of online gambling cannibalizing the land-based casino’s bottom line.
“Sands and Wynn are A-list casino developers. To see them fade away is a major surprise,” said Bennett Liebman, a government law professor at Albany Law School of Union University and a former member of the state Racing and Wagering Commission.
“That tells you something about the obstacle course set up by the State Legislature, which made it difficult for some developers to get involved,” Liebman said.
Sands CEO Robert Goldstein indicated during a third-quarter earnings call that the talk of online casino gambling in New York had permeated the C-suite and gave the executives cause for pause.
“I’ve always been the biggest advocate for New York and other jurisdictions,” Goldstein said at the time. “The only concern I have these days is the ongoing strength of online gambling. We can’t ignore what’s happening in New Jersey, in Pennsylvania, and in Michigan.”
In May, those concerns manifested into a withdrawal of their Nassau Coliseum project, in which Goldstein stated, “As we have previously stated, the company remains concerned about the impact of potential legalization of iGaming on the overall market opportunity and project.”
