How Long Before Resorts World NYC Has Local Competition?

One down, two to go. Resorts World in Queens began offering New York City’s first legal table games last Tuesday, and while that excitement has by no means subsided, some of the attention now turns to the other two NYC casinos in the works.

Resorts World will have competition in the downstate New York brick-and-mortar casino market. The question is when.

The New York State Gaming Commission formally awarded three casino licenses in December, at a minimum price tag of $500 million each plus a $500 million minimum capital investment.

Resorts World pledged its casino, by far the quickest and easiest to launch because all it had to do was renovate parts of the existing Aqueduct racino, would be open by July at the latest — a target it beat by three months.

One of the other licenses went to New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International, for a new facility being referred to for now as Hard Rock Metropolitan Park, to be built on one of the parking lots for Citi Field in Flushing.

The final license belongs to Bally’s, which will also be building from the ground up on the site of a golf course once owned by Donald Trump in the Bronx.

Resorts World has a monopoly for the moment. And if current timelines remain intact, it will have that monopoly for the next four years.

Flickers in Flushing

Metropolitan Park, which comes with an estimated price tag of $8 billion, is “rapidly advancing its pre-construction activities,” spokesperson Karl Rickett told the Queens Daily Eagle last week.

That means actual construction has not begun (as anyone walking by the site can see).

This particular project involves not just erecting a casino, but also turning portions of the 50-acre parking lot into green space as well as building a 5,600-seat outdoor music venue. The plan requires an estimated 17,000 construction-related jobs and, down the road, 6,000 casino-related jobs.

The estimated timeline has not changed from when the license was awarded: Hard Rock Metropolitan Park is projected to open in June 2030 — just over four years from now.

Bronx builders

Bally’s also has a summer 2030 target in sight, but some see reason to be skeptical of it hitting that mark, as Bally’s is simultaneously committed to major casino projects in both Las Vegas and Chicago.

The Bronx proposal includes a gaming floor with 4,000 positions, a 2,000-seat event center, and a 500-room hotel. The whole endeavor is of a slightly smaller scale than Cohen’s in Queens, with a projected 15,000 construction jobs and 4,000 longer-term casino jobs — and a $4 billion price tag.

Under the terms of the land deal Bally’s closed in February, construction must begin within about 18 months — or by late summer/early fall of 2027.

If everyone hits their targets, it’s shaping up as a close race for whether Hard Rock or Bally’s will go down as the operator of New York City’s second full casino.

Resorts World still has work to do

As it happens, Resorts World may actually end up third in the race to finish its casino project.

Although the table games are open, additional expansion is in the works. There’s a 2,000-room hotel coming (a substantial scaling up from the current 400 rooms at the Hyatt Regency), along with a 7,000-seat entertainment venue and 12 acres of adjacent green space.

Those additions have a 2031 target date for completion.

For now, though, Resorts World has a monopoly on legal casino gaming action in New York City. State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr., meanwhile, plans to continue pushing his legislation to bring online casinos to New York, which could potentially end Resorts World’s monopoly before either Bally’s or Hard Rock does.