Topline

President Donald Trump and billionaire Steve Cohen stand to profit as the New York State Gaming Commission voted Monday to finalize approvals licensing a trio of the state’s first fully commercial casinos.

Key Facts

The New York State Gaming Commission voted to give final approvals to license three casinos: Hard Rock International’s Metropolitan Park, Bally Corp’s Bronx and Genting Group’s Resorts World New York City.

Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets, partnered with Hard Rock International to propose the $8 billion Metropolitan Park casino to be fully constructed by 2030 in Flushing, Queens.

Bally’s $4 billion casino site is going to be constructed in the Bronx, next to a golf course Trump once owned—the president is set to receive $115 million from the new project as part of the purchase agreement between Bally’s and the Trump Organization.

The Genting project, backed by Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay’s firm, will transform a horse racing track into a large resort in Jamaica, Queens.

Eight different projects bid for the three final spots, with five proposals falling out of the race including a Times Square-based Caesars Palace casino and an MGM Resorts International casino.

The state of New York anticipates the projects to bring in about $1.5 billion in licensing fees and $7 billion in tax revenue by 2036.

Shares of Bally’s Corporation were up more than 3% as of just after 3 p.m. EST.

Key Background

The debate to award Las Vegas-style casino licenses in New York has lasted more than a decade, as the state’s voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing seven new casinos in 2030. The referendum, which was supported by 57% of voters, was heavily promoted by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who claimed the casino push would create new jobs and attract tourists to the state.

More than a dozen companies, Indian tribes and trade groups with interest in gambling spent more than $59 million lobbying New York state lawmakers in the lead up to the referendum, the New York Times reported. Investors are most drawn to the prospect of attracting the state’s large population to casinos, especially as other venues in the Northeast deal with increasing challenges.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said the approvals were only granted to proposals that had community benefits and would generate billions of dollars for state initiatives.