Bet on it
No jackpot for state in casinos’ first months
ALBANY — It’s still early in the game, but New York’s gamble on casino gaming is already showing signs it may not pay off as planned for the state.
Through their first several months of operations, the state’s three nontribal casinos have generated gaming and tax revenues that appear to fall short of projections, according to data posted on the state Gaming Commission's website.
And at least one casino owner is already warning that New York’s gambling market is oversubscribed.
“The reality is that it is a saturated market upstate,” said Jeff Gural, owner of the Tioga Downs Casino near Binghamton (pictured). “Everybody is competing for the same customer.”
Tioga Downs, which opened in December, has generated $46.3 million in gross gaming revenue — $15.3 million of which went to state and local governments — through July. The figures are about 35% less than Gural projected.
Gural remains hopeful business will increase once a hotel at the facility opens later this year, but he conceded it will likely not meet initial projections.
Since it opened in January, the del Lago Resort and Casino in the Finger Lakes has generated $76.3 million in gaming revenue, $22.7 million of which went to state and local governments.
Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady, which opened in February, generated $70.1 million gaming revenues, $22.4 million of which went to state and local governments.
Officials at del Lago and Rivers have not indicated whether their revenues are meeting goals, but their initial license applications to the state contained more ambitious tax projections.
Del Lago predicted first-year tax revenues between $59 million and $74.6 million, while Rivers predicted between $69 million and $86 million, according to Gaming Commission records.
“There is just not enough business there,” said Alan Woinski, president of Gaming USA Corp., a New Jersey-based consulting firm and publisher of industry newsletters.
“You just can’t have casinos, racetrack casinos and tribal casinos that close to each other.”
New York legalized a limited number of commercial casinos in a 2013 referendum after Gov. Cuomo and other supporters argued they would provide an economic boost to the state.
The three new casinos joined a crowded New York gaming market that includes a half-dozen tribal casinos and 11 video lottery gaming centers — often called racinos. A fourth commercial casino in the Catskills plans to open next year.
They are also competing against casinos in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Cuomo and state gaming officials insist it’s too early to judge the success of the casinos, noting some are still building out their facilities. The governor also argued the sites have created thousands of jobs upstate.
“These casinos are just starting,” Cuomo told reporters during a stop in Rochester Tuesday. “The variance with the (revenue) projections doesn’t bother me that much. They have all been widely successful in creating jobs and building beautiful complexes.”
Officials at del Lago did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Rivers Casino general manager Mary Cheeks, in a statement, said “we are pleased with the performance” of the casino and noted the recent opening of a hotel at the site and an appearance by the show “Poker Night in America.”