Fierce Competition Expected for New York State Casino Licenses

Just a few weeks ago New York State voters approved a constitutional amendment that will allow up to seven new casinos to be built in the state over the next decade. To begin with four casinos will be approved in three upstate regions and the battle for licenses is already heating up between casino developers.

While the first set of casinos won’t be as lucrative as future casino licenses in Long Island or NY City, there are definitely some advantages in building in the more rural areas. For instance, the Catskills and Hudson Valley are both within driving distance of the city.

However, despite this there hasn’t been any interest from the major casino companies based in Las Vegas. While the Vegas operators supported the move to expand gambling in New York State, none of them have submitted proposals for an upstate casino and it doesn’t seem as if they will do so in future.

It is far more likely that the major developers are waiting until a New York City license is up for grabs. A casino in New York would be extremely lucrative as it is one of the wealthiest metro areas in the world.