New York Casino Licenses Might Not Be Awarded Before 2026, Lawmaker Warns
Posted on: August 28, 2025, 12:33h.
Last updated on: August 27, 2025, 04:01h.
- New York casino licenses for the downstate region are to be issued before the year’s end
- A state lawmaker says the tentative deadline could be missed
- Eight casino bids are seeking one of the three available licenses
A “New York minute” doesn’t apply to the state’s issuing of three downstate casino licenses. More than a decade after the coveted casino licenses earmarked for New York City’s five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester County were authorized through state legislation, and two years removed from the 10-year moratorium on the licenses being issued ending, the odds are good that further delay is ahead.
New York’s 2013 gaming statute authorized four Upstate New York casinos and three downstate. The upstate gaming market was provided a 10-year exclusivity on commercial slot machines and live dealer table games, a condition designed to spur interest for the casino concessions and provide an economic jumpstart for the region.
The moratorium expired in February 2023. The downstate New York market has since been the focus of the global gaming industry, as the world’s largest casino operators mulled a bid. More than two years later, the three licenses remain unissued.
Further Delay Likely
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo is a longtime supporter of gaming in the Empire State and voted in favor of the 2013 casino bill. The Queens Democrat chairs the New York Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming, and Wagering, and has tried to accelerate the downstate casino licensing process in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s fiscal problems.
Addabbo wants the casino licenses issued as quickly as possible, but he recently revealed that it’s likely that the New York Gaming Facility Location Board will miss its self-imposed deadline to announce the winners by Dec. 1, 2025. The licenses are to be fully awarded by Dec. 31, once the winning bid pays its $500 million fee to the state.
Before the five-member state board, which remains a member short, can vote on which bids win licenses, the respective project must secure a two-thirds majority support from its Community Advisory Committee. Each of the eight CACs is required to vote on its casino presentation by Sept. 30.
There remain eight applicants — The Avenir (11th Ave & 41st St., Manhattan), Bally’s Bronx (Ferry Point, Bronx), Caesars Palace Times Square (1515 Broadway, Manhattan), The Coney (Coney Island, Brooklyn), Freedom Plaza (686 1st Ave., Manhattan), MGM Empire City (Empire City Casino, Yonkers), Metropolitan Park (Willets Point, Queens), and Resorts World New York City (Aqueduct Racetrack, Queens).
State Timeline
The New York State Gaming Facility Location Board’s website was recently updated to include the eight bids. The website maintains that the “Board expects to make decisions by Dec. 1, 2025, followed by Commission licensure by Dec. 31, 2025.”
Those dates, however, are not legally binding, meaning a delay is possible. The New York State Gaming Facility Location Board had agreed to those dates during its June 27, 2024, meeting.
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