Empire Metropolis On line casino Says Full Gaming License Would Generate 2,500 Jobs
Empire Metropolis On line casino in Yonkers is a front-runner for one of many three full-scale gaming licenses that grow to be legitimate subsequent yr for New York’s downstate area.
An aerial view of Empire Metropolis On line casino at Yonkers Raceway in New York. MGM Resorts, which operates the on line casino and racetrack, will apply for a full-scale downstate gaming license in 2023. (Picture: On line casino.org)
MGM Resorts operates Empire Metropolis, which is positioned on the historic Yonkers Raceway in Westchester County. Talking not too long ago with the Westchester Journal Information, Taryn Duffy, vice chairman of public affairs for MGM Resorts’ Northeast Group, stated the on line casino would go on a hiring spree ought to the ability obtain one of many three full-scale gaming concessions.
Duffy stated MGM would wish to increase its Empire Metropolis On line casino workforce by about 2,500 positions. The on line casino’s enlargement from being solely a video lottery terminal and digital desk recreation venue right into a Las Vegas-style on line casino resort would additionally require a number of thousand momentary development staff.
MGM says the license would moreover create 1000’s extra oblique jobs by third-party contractors increasing their very own operations to fulfill the on line casino’s rising calls for.
MGM Solidifies Entrance-Runner Standing
MGM Resorts agreed to accumulate Empire Metropolis On line casino at Yonkers Raceway in Might 2018 for $850 million. The sale from the Rooney household to the Las Vegas-based on line casino large didn’t shut till the next January.
MGM later bought the on line casino to its actual property funding belief (REIT), MGM Development Properties, in a leaseback deal. MGM Development Properties has since been acquired by VICI Properties — the REIT managed by Caesars Leisure.
MGM’s lease of Empire Metropolis was unimpeded by the property’s bodily possession altering arms. MGM pays VICI $50 million a yr for the privilege of working the on line casino and racetrack.
For Empire Metropolis to be allowed to include conventional Las Vegas-style slot machines and dwell vendor desk video games, plus retail sports activities betting, MGM should receive considered one of New York’s full-scale gaming licenses.
As soon as we’re in a position to actually supply this full spectrum of leisure that gamers need and are at present leaving the state to get, it’s going to enable us to additional put money into the property,” Duffy stated.
The state’s 2013 enlargement of business on line casino gaming supplied the 4 upstate casinos with a 10-year working interval freed from downstate casinos. The downstate moratorium expires come 2023.
New York’s Gaming Facility Location Board will start fielding on line casino bids early subsequent yr. The three winners aren’t anticipated to be introduced till late subsequent yr. However the consensus amongst gaming trade analysts is that Empire Metropolis and Resorts World New York Metropolis in Queens, one other VLT property downstate, are the odds-on favorites for 2 of the concessions.
House Obtainable
MGM says its Yonkers gaming venue is able to increase right into a full-scale on line casino. Duffy says the property at present makes use of about 40% of its 97 acres, with many of the utilized area presently being paved parking heaps.
Yonkers Raceway opened in 1899 as a one-half-mile dust monitor. The raceway hosted thoroughbred racing in its early days, the 1937 Triple Crown winner Seabiscuit profitable the Scarsdale Handicap at Yonkers a yr earlier than making historical past.
The racetrack moved to strictly harness racing in 1942, and has remained as such since. The monitor’s on line casino opened in 2006 with 5,200 VLT machines and digital desk gaming positions.
Empire Metropolis On line casino generated gross gaming income of $624.6 million in the course of the 2021/22 fiscal yr. A bit greater than half (50.5%) of the haul went towards supporting public schooling, which is the place New York allocates its VLT and digital desk recreation income tax cash.
