New York already has casinos. For example, the Queens Resorts World and Empire City Casino in Yonkers both allow bettors to sit down and gamble. Visitors want to play table games and bet on sports, though. Presently, they can only feed their money into video slot machines. No, New York does not have THAT type of casino yet.

Besides the Class II casinos scattered around the downstate region, New York is something of a casino wasteland. This could soon change – the questions are surrounding when and where these new, fully-functional casinos will appear.

The good news is that plans are afoot to award licenses and zone prospective New York sites for three casino resorts. The hope is New York will soon have casinos like those found in Macau, Monte Carlo, or Nassau.

Awarding these licenses promises changes in gambling legislation to allow for Class III casinos. They also bode well for legal online casinos and sports betting. It won’t be in 2023, but the leading online reviews show how many great options already in nearby states would become available to New Yorkers with new legislation.

In early 2023, the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board got proactive. It issued an RfA (Request for Applications) for the development and operation of three New York gaming venues. The response was promising, with 11 applications received so far. These included some from impressive players within the industry.

Before revealing some of these bidders, let’s look at the Gaming Facility Location Board selection process. We’ll also highlight the requirements for the bids.

The selection process includes two GFLB question-and-answer periods with potential bidders. After each period, the GFLB will publish the answers provided. 30 days after publishing the second round of answers, expected to be in the coming summer or fall, the application period will close.

All bids will need a capital investment of at least $500 million, and a further $500 million available for a gambling license. Every bid must include a plan for support within the local community, and another containing job creation details. Bids should estimate the tax revenue value the proposed casino will generate.

The GFLB will thereafter put forward its license recommendation to the Gaming Commission. Once the Gaming Commission makes its final decision, a $1 million application fee is payable by the successful complex developers. The winning operators will pay 25% tax on all slots, and at least 10% on table games.

Now back to the bidders. As mentioned, there are 11 bids to date, although a few are experiencing problems during the bidding process. The applications that appear problem-free at present are:

• Caesars Entertainment, SL Green, and Roc Nation consortium – a bid to construct a casino at 1515 Broadway, in a Times Square highrise.
• Hudson’s Bay Company – a bid to convert three top floors (200,000 feet) of Saks Fifth Avenue (owned by Hudson’s Bay) in Midtown, Manhattan, into a “Monte Carlo-style casino”.
• Las Vegas Sands Co. – A $4 billion revamp and development of vacant land alongside the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island.
• Malaysia’s Genting Group – an expansion bid to advance its Resorts World Casino, operating from the Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, to a Class III casino facility.
• MGM Resorts – an expansion bid to upgrade its existing Empire City Casino in Yonkers to include live table games and retail sports betting among other new games and entertainment facilities.
• Related Companies and Wynn Resorts consortium – a $25 billion casino project bid to develop part of the 28-acre Hudson Yards complex near the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
• The Soloviev Group and the Mohegan Tribe consortium – a bid for a $3.5 billion gaming resort tentatively named Freedom Plaza, alongside the United Nations building in Midtown, Manhattan.
• Thor Equities, Legends, Saratoga Casino Holdings, and the Chickasaw Nation consortium – a bid to launch a new casino complex in Coney Island.

In an apparently-unrelated development to the ongoing bidding process, the Oneida Nation has announced plans to expand its Turning Stone Resort Casino in Central New York. The $370M expansion is set for completion in two years, and will include a new hotel, a conference center, and outdoor event spaces.