CAESARS Entertainment Corp is bidding to build a US$750 million (RM2.44 billion) casino about 50 miles from Manhattan as other Las Vegas gambling companies stay away.
Caesars will post a US$1 million application fee for one of four available gaming licenses in New York state, Gary Thompson, a spokesman for the Las Vegas-based company, said by email. Caesars, which operates 39 casinos in the US, is the only operator based in the Nevada gaming hub to enter a bid so far.
The four licenses were authorised by a constitutional amendment approved by voters in November after Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed it through the legislature. Executives with Las Vegas Sands Corp, the largest US-based casino operator, said at the time that the plan was a loser in part because it didn’t allow for casinos in New York City.
Sands operates a casino 80 miles (129 kilometres) west of the city in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The casino planned by Caesars, which was reported yesterday by the New York Times, would place a gambling resort in Orange County near a commuter rail line and a popular outlet mall, Thompson said. He declined further comment.
Genting Bhd, which operates a video slot-machine parlor at the Aqueduct Racetrack in the New York City borough of Queens, said it paid a US$1 million application fee yesterday as it scours the region north of Manhattan for a resort and casino location.
Genting Malaysia Bhd’s unit RW Orange County LLC has submitted a US$1 million or RM3.26 million application fee to the New York State Gaming Commission on April 23,2014.
In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Genting said the payment allows RW Orange County to participate in the selection process to develop and operate a Gaming Facility in New York State. RW Orange County is currently evaluating the project and will have until 30 June 2014 to decide if it wishes to formally submit a bid, it said.
“We are excited to work with local municipalities and the state of New York to acquire a site where we can build a facility that will further bolster the Empire State’s thriving tourism economy,” Christian Goode, a senior vice president for Genting Americas, said in an emailed statement.
About 15 companies, which also include Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, have said they plan to submit bids for the licenses. — Bloomberg