Four New York City Casino Bids Remain After Metropolitan Park Approved
Posted on: September 30, 2025, 01:56h.
Last updated on: September 30, 2025, 02:02h.
- Four casino bids remain for downstate New York’s three available licenses
- MGM, Genting, and Hard Rock are the favorites
- Bally’s is the underdog
Once expected to be a difficult process for the New York Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB) to determine where three downstate casino licenses would be awarded in a crowded bidding pool featuring most of the world’s largest and most influential gaming operators, state officials now only need to eliminate one of the four remaining bids.
In what began with more than a dozen project proposals, only eight bids for the three downstate New York casino concessioners were confirmed when the state’s Request for Applications (RFA) period concluded on June 27, 2025.
Prior to the RFA deadline, companies that had prepped bids only to terminate their pursuits before the application period culminated included Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts. They respectively cited concerns about iGaming and local opposition. The eight gaming companies that submitted RFAs in partnerships included MGM Resorts, Genting Group, Bally’s Corp., Hard Rock, Caesars Entertainment, Mohegan, Saratoga Casino Holdings, and Rush Street Gaming.
Since the June deadline, each bid’s community advisory committee (CAC) has determined whether the proposal should move to the final review stage before the New York GFLB. The eight CAC outcomes trimmed the bidding pool in half.
Fourth Bid Approved
This week began with CACs for Bally’s Bronx and The Coney in Brooklyn determining their fates.
The Bally’s plan, backed by NYC Mayor Eric Adams, was approved with a 4-2 vote, meeting the three-fifths majority needed. The Coney CAC went the other way, with a 4-2 vote against the project to revitalize the seaside community.
The Bally’s and Coney CAC votes followed earlier CAC approvals of MGM Empire City in Yonkers and Resorts World New York City in Queens. CACs for The Avenir in Hell’s Kitchen, Caesars Palace Times Square, and Freedom Plaza in Midtown East terminated those applications.
On Tuesday morning, the eighth and final CAC voted on Metropolitan Park, Hard Rock’s pitch with New York Mets owner and private equity billionaire Steve Cohen. As expected, the scheme garnered unanimous 6-0 support to send the state GFLB a fourth downstate casino to consider.
The vote was good news for Cohen after his Mets failed to make the MLB postseason despite having the second-highest payroll in baseball.
Cohen and Hard Rock have proposed an $8 billion investment near Citi Field to transform Willets Point into a Las Vegas-like casino resort destination. The would-be developers have sweetened the deal with a 25-acre public park, community athletics facilities, and affordable housing units.
Can Bally’s Compete?
By most accounts, including the opinions of the Casino.org newsroom, the New York GFLB’s job is all but done.
The longtime frontrunners — MGM and Resorts World — are almost sure things at this point. With Sands, Wynn, and Caesars no more, the board is expected to issue the third and final gaming license to Metropolitan Park.
Cohen’s bid for a casino has benefited from the billionaire’s lobbying clout in Albany and his ability to spend seemingly whatever it takes to get his way. Last year, casino bidders fueled record lobbying spend in New York.
Even if Cohen wasn’t behind Metropolitan Park, the Hard Rock bid would presumably be favored above the Bronx scheme due to its ties with Bally’s, a company that has encountered financial struggles of late. There are money concerns that Bally’s is overleveraged with its multibillion-dollar projects in Chicago and Las Vegas.
The New York GFLB is expected to decide the three winners by Dec. 1, 2025.
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