The legislative session in New York has been viewed on a wide scale because of the level of impact it will have on the sports betting and casino sectors moving forward. The question now becomes, whether there will be a pushback in the commercial casino push in the Empire State.
A Proposal For a Casino in ‘The Coney’ in the Works?
A coalition of bidders that are led by the Chickasaw Nation, Lends, Thor Equities, and Saratoga Casino Holdings is looking to secure a potentially lucrative permit in the area. In the blueprint, the writing of the potential offer will include the construction of a new hotel across from its renowned boardwalk.
The goal of the deal is to have traffic during the winter when business takes a steep decline compared to the summer. Adding a commercial casino facility would change the economic standard as local businesses could have business all year round because tourists will flock to the location.
If the group is rewarded with one of the licenses, the partners must pay a $500 million licensing fee. As a result, New York’s casino rules require the license holder to invest a minimum of $500 million into the resort’s construction.
In the area, more casino bids will be forming in the next few weeks. Long Island’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum will be the site of Las Vegas Sands’ integrated casino resort that will cost up to $5 billion if the bid is successful.
In his Citi Field MLB ballpark, which is home to his New York Mets, billionaire owner Steve Cohen has proposed building a casino resort with Hard Rock International. There are a few questionable proposed bids in the Empire State, but the casino industry continues to surprise the public, seemingly on a regular basis.
Opposers Pinpointing Corruption based On the Contracts
In the last few months, Sen. Liz Krueger has been bombarded by the number of proposals by lobbyists in the state. From presentations and other forms of proposals, lobbyists have been relentless for their clients in hopes of building the next greatest casino in the heart of Manhattan.
Sen. Krueger has taken numerous meetings to listen to their specific pitches. However, she doesn’t know why anyone was pitching to her as she doesn’t like casinos in the first place.
What she has experienced is just a fraction of what is happening throughout New York as lobbyists try to win over the opposers. According to POLITICO, lobbying firms that support 10 casinos in the metro area have made at least $7.2 million in the last 14 months.
Companies such as Bally’s and Caesars have been the benefactors of the operation. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine stated in an interview, “It seems like every lobbyist in town is eventually going to have a casino client.”
Key lobbyists in this lucrative effort have reaped the rewards. Genting’s lobbyist, Moonshot Strategies has cashed in a total of $350,000 while the group has made $182,000 for lobbying for Steve Cohen.
These coalitions of lobbying groups for these casinos continue to spend at alarming rates that exceed the amounts on file in the Empire State. These transactions and efforts have been extremely difficult to monitor because approximately only half the details are being fully disclosed.
This could lead to fines and other legal actions if any details are left out by the casinos that are trying to push forward in the competitive but lucrative market. This is happening while lawmakers are pushing for more strict measures on sports betting advertisements.
Last Updated on by Ryan
