Light & Wonder exec says New York casinos rival Las Vegas Strip
Gambling revenue from just three New York City-area casinos rivals or exceeds that of the Las Vegas Strip.
That’s the view of Howard Glaser, global head of government affairs at Light & Wonder. Glaser's views on the issue are important because he served as a senior policy adviser to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and led efforts to legalize traditional casino gambling in the South.
In terms of potential revenue, the numbers are staggering," Glaser said in a recent CNBC interview."New York State's own study found that three casinos could generate $8 billion per year Potential casino revenue. To give you some perspective, the Las Vegas Strip generated $8 billion in casino revenue last year. "
This likely refers to gross gaming revenue (GGR), as Nevada casinos have collectively been averaging more than $1 billion in monthly revenue for some time. The broader numbers for Las Vegas and Nevada generally include non-gaming items such as food and beverages, hotel rooms and shows, as well as gaming revenue.
New York Casino has obvious advantages
New York City is widely considered one of the world's last major untapped casino markets, and gaming companies are spending millions just for a chance to secure three licenses that regulators are likely to issue sometime next year.
The competition attracts industry giants such as Caesars Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts. There has long been speculation that MGM Resorts International's Empire City Lacino Hotel in Yonkers and Resorts World New York in Queens would receive two of the licenses, meaning other companies are effectively vying for a single license certificate. However, policymakers and regulators have yet to publicly confirm that either venue has an advantage over the competition.
While the fight for the state's three casino licenses has been protracted and ultimately costly to the operators involved, the math confirms that the winners could benefit significantly.
"How can three casinos in New York be the size of the entire Las Vegas Strip?" Glaser told CNBC. "Twenty-three million people live here and 50 million people come to visit. Casino executives want to be in this market."
New York casino operators are in a tough spot
New York City is undoubtedly attractive to casino operators, but gaming companies in the state are struggling. Not only are about a dozen companies vying for the three licenses, but with residents fleeing to other states, the state needs revenue, and rumor has it that what was once a $500 million license fee is now $1 billion, and possibly more. high.
As Glaser told CNBC, $1 billion up front sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but over 20 years the three operators approved could generate nearly $200 billion in revenue.
The $1 billion license fee does not include the operator's construction costs, which means Las Vegas Sands plans to build a casino-hotel in Nassau County, as well as Hard Rock International International plans to build an A site near Citi Field in Queens at a cost of approximately $1,000,000. The cost is as high as $6 billion or $8 billion.
Sands CEO Rob Goldstein and Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen told CNBC that at those prices, it would be nearly impossible to make a reasonable profit on the projects without involving a casino.
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Source: www.casino.org
