New York Casinos Record Busy January 2023

New York’s commercial casinos have been quite busy this January, as reported by the New York State Gaming Commission. The regulator has revealed that the four non-tribal casinos have recorded a 12% increase in gambling revenue compared to January 2022. These numbers were the highest since the introduction of mobile sports betting as well.

Currently, the state has four commercial casinos up and running in the upstate region, those are Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady, Tioga Downs Casino Resort, del Lago Resort & Casino, and Resorts World Catskills. Three more of those are on the way for the downstate region, and the state is currently accepting applications from interested parties.

Busy Start of 2023

As reported by the New York State Gaming Commission, the total revenue from Empire State slots, retail sports betting, table games, and poker for January 2023 came to US$54.5 million from commercial casinos. These numbers are a 12% increase over the same month from last year when revenue from the four non-tribal casinos reached US$47.9 million.

All Empire State-based retail casino operators saw a relatively good bump in monthly revenue compared to the same time last year, with the exception of Resorts World Catskills. The Genting Americas property reported US$16.1 million in January 2023, which is slightly lower than the same month in 2022, when the property clocked around US$16.2 million in revenue.

Meanwhile, Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady disclosed revenue from slots and table games at US$17.4 million, slightly more than its January 2022 with US$14.2 million. del Lago Resort & Casino generated US$12.3 million, in comparison to its US$10.4 million from last year, and Tioga Downs got US$8.6 million, more than its 2022 results of US$7.1 million.

In terms of sports wagering, Rivers Casino recorded the highest betting handle with US$4,435,505 and revenue of US$388,419. Meanwhile, Tioga Downs saw a handle of US$739,583 and US$115,180 in proceeds. Resorts World Catskills paid out US$33,598 from the US$1,706,687 handle, and del Lago recorded a US$10,649 loss from a US$3,175,126 volume.

Request for Applications Begins

In the meantime, New York is working on accelerating the issuance of the other three commercial licenses in the downstate area. At the start of January 2023, the Gaming Facility Location Board, responsible for assessing possible locations kicked off the Request for Applications. The panel will review bids and announce the three winners in late 2023.

Plenty of candidates have already emerged and expressed interest in bringing in a commercial gaming property to downstate New York. Some of the interested parties include Las Vegas Sands, Caesars Entertainment with SL Green, Roc Nation, Soloviev Group and more. Recently, Soloviev Group selected Mohegan Gaming as its partner for a potential casino in Manhattan, NYC.

Source: Vojvodic, Katarina “New York Commercial Casino Revenue Up 12% Year-Over-Year In January” PlayUSA, February 15, 2023