Flight Delayed
Flight Delayed
The arrival of New York City casinos is going to fundamentally change the East Coast gambling scene, but due to delays, it will be a miracle if they open before 2026.
The Bulletin Board
NEWS: New York’s downstate casino licenses are unlikely to be awarded until 2025, at the earliest.
BEYOND the HEADLINE: Licensing delay is bad news for online casino efforts.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATES: Georgia fails to pass sports betting bill; Friction in Oklahoma; LVS pushes for TX casinos… again.
VIEWS: Some thoughts on the Youth Sports Betting Safety Coalition.
NEWS: Maryland online casino chances plummet as Senate fails to take action.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: Good for offshore operators.
STRAY THOUGHTS: Gambling industry Karens.
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Zoning Is the Latest Hiccup in the NYC Casino Process
Bad news out of the Big Apple: New York’s downstate casinos are still a long way from opening, following a newly proposed timeline by the New York State Gaming Commission.
Robert Williams, executive director of the Gaming Commission, indicated that the NYGC hopes to have the “zoning approvals, CAC considerations, and environmental review completion by late summer 2025, allowing for a Gaming Facility Location Board decision in late 2025 resulting in a commission license consideration before the end of 2025.”
That would push back the possibility of a casino opening to 2026, at the earliest. Considering the slow progress thus far, no one should be surprised if there are even more delays. Not to mention the inevitable lawsuits and finger-pointing that will occur when the state picks three winners from around a dozen proposals.
As I wrote in December, following accusations of misconduct in awarding Chicago’s casino license:
“The accusations flying in Chicago and previously in Massachusetts are just a taste of what New York has in store when it issues its downstate casino licenses.”
Massachusetts is the current leader in the clubhouse, having legalized casinos in 2011. What followed was a lengthy licensing process, a failed repeal effort in 2014, and lawsuits and accusations of a rigged bidding process.
Plainridge Park (a slot parlor at an existing harness racing track) opened in 2015, but the two resort casinos, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor, didn’t open until 2018 and 2019, respectively.
New York may give that timeline a run for its money. The state authorized downstate casinos in 2022, with the legislature passing a bill to “expedite” the process - so much for expediting.
Of course, Atlantic City casinos are happy with New York taking as long as they want. Bad news in the Big Apple is good news for the Garden State.
As David Danzis (a guest on podcast episode #3) wrote earlier this year:
“Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming and chairman of Hard Rock International estimated that roughly 20% to 30% of the AC market are customers from the North Jersey and greater NYC area — the affluent and densely-populated market that downstate NY casinos will be poaching from.
“It is logical and fair to extrapolate that estimate for the rest of the AC market. If Atlantic City casinos are competing with brand-new casino resorts in their customers’ backyards, they are facing an uphill battle — and that’s putting it mildly.”
Beyond the Headline: Collateral damage
The licensing delays for the downstate casinos are also likely impacting the state’s efforts to legalize online casino gambling.
The downstate casinos are one of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s policy wins, so it is unlikely she will take her eyes off the prize until the licenses are awarded. Dropping online casinos in the lap of regulators could cause further delays.
To that point, Hochul hasn’t supported online casino efforts, and as State Sen. Joseph Addabbo told Play NY, “It’s all governor-driven. The governor has to want it.”
“I’m an optimist but also a realist. And you know, in Albany, anything can happen. But there’s many pieces to the puzzle … It takes the governor to pull the pieces together, the Hotel Trades Council included, and say, ‘OK, how do we move forward?'”
Another reason is that lawmakers tend to hold off on new gambling expansions until current expansions are completed.
Legislative Updates: GA Comes off the Board; OK Gov. and Tribes at Odds; Texas Casino Efforts
No sports betting for Georgia: A sports betting bill met its demise in the Georgia House of Representatives last week. There was a flurry of late activity to try to reach the 2/3 majority needed to pass a constitutional amendment to put sports betting on the ballot, including increasing the tax rate and arguments over the disbursement of those funds, but the appetite for legalizing sports betting didn’t exist in the House.
Oklahoma power struggle: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is asking the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission to pass a resolution that disallows the state’s three tracks from offering “gaming machines or share in the participating tribal fund revenue starting Jan. 1, 2035, unless authorized by the governor.” The renewal triggers tribal compact extensions, which Stitt is against - having lost a high-profile fight over tribal compacts in 2019.
Texas casinos: A new petition seeking to bring resort casinos (and sports betting) to Texas has been put forth by the Texas Destination Resort Alliance. A familiar name is behind the effort as the group’s website reads, “paid for by the Las Vegas Sands Corp.” The petition states it is “fighting to bring luxury resorts, top-of-the-line entertainment, fine dining, and more to Texans’ backyards” by “expanding casino-style gambling” into Texas.
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Good Intentions; Questionable Results
In a statement last Wednesday, NCAA President Charlie Baker teased a press conference with Massachusetts officials to deal with threats to game integrity and harassment of student-athletes.
On Thursday, Baker was on the dais alongside Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, state gaming officials, and representatives from the NCAA and professional sports teams.
Massachusetts has announced a new initiative called the Youth Sports Betting Safety Coalition. According to local press, the group’s founding members are the Attorney General’s office, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the NCAA, Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health, Civic Action Project, Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, New England Patriots, and New England Revolution.
The goal is to address betting by minors and create “a sports betting education, training & safety curriculum for young people 12 to 20.”
That’s a lofty goal.
I’m all for education, but I worry about the messaging. I fear that, just like previous outreach to the youth campaigns (DARE or abstinence-only sex education), the initiative will likely cost a fortune in both money and time invested, and years later, we will look back at questionable results and Steve Buscemi memes.
Maryland Online Casino Chances are Dwindling
Maryland online casino efforts are hanging on by a string.
After passing through the House, Del. Vanessa Atterbeary’s online casino bill has been set aside in the Senate, and according to Play USA sources (and I trust Matthew Kredell’s sources), “unless Maryland online casino comes out of the budget conference committee, this likely will be its last hearing of 2024.”
As previously reported, the House and the Senate are very divided on how to deal with the budget. The House is looking for long-term solutions (like ongoing online gambling revenue), while the Senate is content to address it year-to-year.
As bullish as some have been, online casino legalization would always be a difficult lift in Maryland.
What are the challenges, as I said following the passage of the bill in the House:
“The bill faces a slew of challenges, including a far more resistant Senate, opposition from labor, a cannibalization argument that won’t go away, negative polling that gives any lawmaker looking for an out a convenient excuse to kick the can down the road, and the usual concerns from responsible gambling advocates and the anti-gambling crowd.
“Even the typical supporters have concerns about the House’s online casino bill. The tax burdens are severe, and the amendment prohibiting the use of credit cards raises the question of how hard the industry will fight for the bill.”
Many don’t understand that the rapid legalization of DFS and sports betting (from 2016 to 2021) was an anomaly. Legalizing online gambling is like herding cats, an arduous, altogether frustrating task.
Chris Grove summed it up on X, “The [online sports betting] states that are left are left for a reason. And if you think OSB is hard, online casino will be exponentially harder.”
There are still several pieces on the chessboard, but my prediction that online casinos and sports betting will get blanked in 2024 is (unfortunately) on point thus far. Zero states have legalized online casino gambling or sports betting, and the candidate list is shrinking.
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Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
There is an uproar over the NCAA’s calls for prop betting prohibitions. A move seen as a gift to the still-thriving offshore market. The more markets offshore sites can offer that legal operators cannot make it harder to shift spend from offshore sites to legal, licensed sites.
This extends beyond prop bets. Offshore markets already have enough advantages, as they can extend credit, don’t send tax reports to the IRS, and don’t have the same licensing and tax burdens.
However, it’s essential to understand that just because it exists doesn’t mean legal, regulated markets can capture it. High-stakes private poker games exist for a reason.
Stray Thoughts
The gaming industry doesn’t have Karens. We have Sheilas, as in Sheila Broflovski from South Park.
The moment anything happens, I hear a collective “What, what, what!” in Sheila’s voice as social media goes into a tizzy and advocates spend 24-72 hours campaigning against said thing before moving on to their next outrage.
Meanwhile, real issues are treated like this: