Resorts World NYC’s parade of praise continued on Thursday, as the project’s designated community advisory committee in Queens gave glowing testimonies before approving the proposal with a unanimous 6-0 vote. The project will now go before the state’s Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB).
A fresh round of review by the GFLB will now run through 1 December, the board’s deadline. The state-appointed panel will evaluate all remaining proposals and make licensure recommendations to the New York State Gaming Commission. At that point, the commission will have until 31 December to issue up to three downstate commercial licences.
Eight proposals made it through to the CAC phase, and Resorts World was considered a frontrunner from the beginning. As an existing facility, Resorts World boasts a July 2026 casino launch timeline, by far the quickest in the field. The video lottery terminal facility has also operated since 2011 and has contributed billions in taxes during that span.
Fellow racino MGM Empire City enjoyed similar advantages and was also unanimously approved earlier in the day. Three casino projects proposed in Manhattan have been rejected by their CACs, leaving three more bidders to be considered after Thursday’s votes for the two racinos.
With regard to public support, Resorts World’s first and second hearings were by far the most positive of all New York casino applicants. That public endorsement coupled with the existing strengths of the bid made approval all but certain. Queens now appears well positioned to secure at least one casino licence. Metropolitan Park, also in Queens, will have its CAC vote on Tuesday at 11am.
“Sorry Jay-Z, we win again,” Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said during the Resorts World vote, referencing the rapper’s failed endorsement of Caesars Times Square. “I just had to rub that in. You can let the Brooklyn borough president know that I send my regards to him. With that being said, I vote aye.”
Resorts World now heads to GFLB phase
With the approval, Resorts World must pay a $1 million application fee before the GFLB phase can begin. The board is an independent body of members who, like the CACs, are not connected to the industry and were appointed specifically for this process. Current board members are:
- Vicki Been, chair: Appointed 2022, professor at NYU School of Law
- Terryl Brown: Appointed 2025, vice president/general counsel at Pace University
- Marion Phillips III: Appointed 2025, SVP of community development, DEI at US News and World Report
- Greg Reimers: Appointed 2025, retired finance executive
Revenue projections and potential impact on existing facilities and other prospective licensees will be significant considerations for the board. Each applicant has provided estimates based on various licensing scenarios. Beyond that, each project that advances before the board will be judged on four weighted criteria:
- Economic Activity & Business Development (70%)
- Local Impact Siting (10%)
- Workforce Enhancement (10%)
- Diversity Framework (10%)
Additionally, Resorts World will be free to pitch and negotiate its own tax rate. This rate can be anything above a minimum of 25% for slot revenue and 10% for other gaming. However, MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said recently his company was told it must match the property’s current rates – VLTs face a tax rate of about 55%. Horse racing purse commitments must also be kept.
This would not seem to be an issue for Resorts World, which was notable last year for pledging annual tax payments of $1 billion or more.
Who will be left to battle the racinos?
While committee approval of the two racinos was unsurprising, the biggest question now is what another bidder or other bidders will move past the CAC phase for state consideration.
Given that the CAC votes were not final decisions, there was a sense that committees might seek to keep the pool of applicants as wide as possible, for as long as possible. This could be evidenced by the fact that all of the CAC appointees of Governor Kathy Hochul and NYC Mayor Eric Adams have voted yes in every vote held thus far.
But things have not played out that way, as all three Manhattan proposals were quickly shot down. Meanwhile, three members of The Coney’s CAC, scheduled to vote Monday at 3pm, have already announced their intention to deny the project. Four positive votes on the six-member committees are required for projects to advance.
Rejection of The Coney would leave Bally’s Bronx and Metropolitan Park as the only other remaining applicants. Bally’s has been responsive to its CAC’s requests, but it faces operational and financial challenges. Metropolitan Park has billionaire New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s lobbying power, but it is also in Queens, raising the question of whether two of three licences would go to one borough.
These scenarios illustrate the point that while there are three available licences, regulators might not award all three, or at least not at the same time.
The committee charged with evaluating Resorts World NYC had only praise for the project before advancing it to state consideration.