Construction Underway on 3 New Casinos in New York State

Construction is underway on three new casinos in New York State, after the New York State Gaming Commission granted licenses for three lavish resort casinos across New York State in December 2015. The resorts are the Montreign Casino and Raceway, outside Monticello, in Sullivan County in the Catskills, the del Lago Resort and Casino in Tyre, in Seneca County and the Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady. The construction industry in New York state has received a boost, with the building of these new resorts.

The Montreign, the del Lago and the Rivers Resorts

The Montreign is a USD 1 billion project, located about 90 miles outside New York city, and being built by Empire Resorts in partnership with EPR Properties. The casino is being built next to a Rees Jones golf course and an indoor family water park. There are also plans for an entertainment ‘village’ near the casino. The resort will consist of a 1.2 million-square-foot casino and an eighteen-floor hotel with nearly 400 rooms. The casino will have 2,000 slot machines and 100 table games. The casino is part of a long-awaited bid to revive the region. Manny Pearlman, chief executive of Empire Resorts and the owner-operator of Montreign said, “I’m just happy for the company and the people of Sullivan County. It’s been a long time coming.”

The del Lago Resort and Casino, a USD 440 million project located in the Finger Lakes town of Tyre in Seneca County, will have a 205-room hotel and a 10,000 square-foot spa, as well as a casino. The hotel will include a 3,000 square-foot multi-purpose banquet hall, which can be used for conventions, wedding receptions and other events. The spa will have seventeen treatment rooms, a retail outlet, and a salon.

The Rivers Casino and Resort is a more modest USD 330 million facility being built by Rush Street Gaming. The resort will have a 50,000 square-foot gaming floor with 1,150 slot machines, 66 tables and 16 poker tables, along with a banquet facility that can host 600 people, a restaurant in the style of a steakhouse, an entertainment lounge, a day spa and a 163-room hotel.

New York’s Casino Expansion will add to the Competition in the Northeast

The casino expansion in New York, which already has nine racetrack casinos and five tribal casinos, has moved faster than that in the neighbouring states in the Northeast. “A lot of the new casinos are going to take market share from existing casinos,” said Peter Trombetta, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service. “That’s what’s happening elsewhere.”

Among the casino towns in the Northeast, Atlantic City’s gambling industry has especially taken a hit from the competition given by the new casinos on the block. Gambling revenues in Atlantic City have fallen by more than half from their 2006 peak. In fact, four casinos on the boardwalk closed in 2014. Despite the fall in competition from these closures in Atlantic City, its total gambling revenues are still falling, as gamblers head to Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania.

According to Maryland’s Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, the five casinos in the state had combined revenues of USD 103.8 million in April 2016, thus crossing the USD 100 million mark for the first time since the first Maryland casino opened in 2010. According to Alan Woinski, president of Gaming USA Corporation, "Regional gaming revenue has been up for six months across the country, and Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania have been three of the strongest markets.” According to figures released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Pennsylvania’s gaming revenues hit USD 289.2 million in April 2016, up 4.2% from April 2015.