Genting's Overbid for NYC's Newest Casino
One of the more unusual aspects of the multi-year bidding process for one of up to three New York City-area casino licenses was that each bidder could choose how much to offer for the license - and also what tax rate the casino operator would be willing to pay.
The incentives meant that the higher each figure would be, the more likely, of course, it would appeal to the decision-making members of the New York Gaming Facility Control Board. In effect, this made the situation somewhat of a blind auction.
The favorite for a license
The borough of Queens location at Aqueduct Racetrack - a thoroughbred racing facility for 131 years that will host its final race, alas, on June 28, 2026 - always had been considered to be a favorite for a license.
For the last 15 years, the adjoining Resorts World New York City racino has featured thousands of slot machines. In 2021, a 400-room Hyatt Regency hotel opened on the property grounds.
The runaway success of the racino in terms of slot machine revenue; the existence of the upscale hotel that can and will be greatly expanded; and the fact that the state could start almost immediately collecting new tax revenue from an upgrade to a full-scale casino with live-dealer table games were among the many factors in the Aqueduct site's favor.
To top it off, local residents overwhelmingly supported the expansion of the property - recognizing that thousands of full-time jobs would be created. Genting promised, upon completion of all phases of a $5.5 billion expansion, to expand the hotel capacity to 2,000 rooms; feature 6,000 slot machines and 800 table games; a 7,000-seat entertainment arena; dozens of food and beverage options; and a dozen acres of “community green space.”
A major overbid by the casino site owners
Still, at one point there were 11 well-funded serious contenders for the three licenses - five in Manhattan, two in Queens, and one each in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Long Island, and Westchester County.
Genting Group, the Malaysia-based Aqueduct site casino bidder and worldwide casino operator, clearly wanted to take no chances on losing out on a license.
So in their proposal, Genting offered to keep the 56% tax rate on gaming revenue that it already was paying for the slot machines.
Genting also agreed to pay $600 million for the casino license - $100 million higher than the state minimum number.
But as it turned out, all five Manhattan bidders were rejected because of lack of local community support. By the time the Yonkers Raceway bid in Westchester - also the site of an existing racino - was withdrawn late in the process, the number of bidders left over was down to three.
All three of those bidders - including Metropolitan Park in Queens and Bally's in The Bronx - were approved by the gaming board in December 2025. During that announcement it was revealed that the other two winners offered only the $500 million minimum - and more importantly, they offered to pay just 25% and 30% of slots revenue, respectively.
In retrospect, Genting clearly overplayed its hand unnecessarily, at an added cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to a report by the Bloomberg news service, Genting sought to receive a reduction in its tax rate, given the much lower numbers set by the two other winning bidders. But state regulators rejected the idea.
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Horse racing purse subsidy battle
New York lawmakers for more than a decade have sought to preserve the state's horse racing industry that includes The Belmont Stakes - the final leg of thoroughbred racing's iconic Triple Crown.
As a result, horse racing purses enjoy an annual $150 million purse subsidy from tax revenue created by slot machine dollars at Resorts World.
But is that obligation met from a portion of the total tax revenue from the new full-fledged casino that just opened a first phase in April - or does the $150 million payment have to be made on top of the newly-increased revenue?
In good news for the horsemen, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul indicated on Thursday that she supports a state legislative proposal that would direct the New York State Gaming Commission to send the $150 million to the horsemen regardless of how the potential legal drama plays out.
The annual purse subsidy payments eventually will be shared by all three casino operators, but that raises another problem for Genting - the Metropolitan Park and Bally's projects, both being built from the ground up, are not expected to open any sooner than mid-2030.
According to Genting spokesman Stefan Friedman, Resorts World New York City has "a 15-year record of sending more than $4.5 billion to the state in education funds and more than $2.5 billion to horse racing interests."
That amount of financial contribution unsurprisingly has led to quite a bit of support for Genting in the statehouse in Albany. The property generated a staggering $57.5 million in revenue in its first full month of full-fledged casino operation in May making it the largest-grossing casino in the U.S. and possibly in the entire world.
But some of that sentiment could change if Genting closes its struggling Resorts World Catskills casino just over 100 miles north of its Queens facility.
While a winning bid for the MGM Resorts International-operated Yonkers Raceway site in upstate Westchester County would have been particularly problematic for the Catskills facility, all three of the New York casinos eventually are sure to draw business away from city residents who previously have spent a day or two at the Catskills casino.
The latter is a key employer for the region, so a closure - while defensible purely from a financial standpoint - could be counterproductive politically.
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