Metropolitan Park was forced to take a second serve on its New York casino licence bid due to a lawsuit from the operators of the US Open tennis tournament.
Hard Rock International and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen have reached an agreement with the city, which includes a superiority clause and complies with the US Tennis Association’s lawsuit with the city, whose lease bans or restricts other events in the area during the US Open.
Cohen and Hard Rock’s Metropolitan Park is one of three casino proposals still left standing in the running for one of up to three commercial casino licences up for grabs in the Empire State.
“We have successfully signed our pre-development agreement with the City,” a Metropolitan Park spokesperson told iGaming Expert.
“This moves forward Metropolitan Park as a comprehensive transformation of the area that embraces the existing sports attractions to create a world-class sports and entertainment destination in the heart of Queens. This is a positive step forward for the local community and fans.”
Metropolitan Park noted that it will continue to work with USTA, adding that the tennis association has supported the project and does not want to stop Metropolitan Park from being developed.
However, options are continuing to be explored in regards to the impact on events held at Citi Field (other than baseball games) during the US Open.
Evaluation process
Earlier this week, the New York Gaming Facility Location Board visited each of the three proposed commercial casino locations – Bally’s Bronx, Hard Rock Metropolitan Park and Resorts World New York City – to examine and understand their locations.
Bally’s, Hard Rock’s and Resort World’s projects were approved by their respective Community Advisory Committees (CAC) in September, advancing to the next stage of the process. Hard Rock’s investment into its casino project stands at $8bn, Resorts World at $7.5bn and Bally’s at $4bn.
The board will evaluate projects based on economic activity and business development (70%), local impact siting (10%), workforce enhancement (10%) and diversity framework (10%). Recommendations will then be sent by the board to the New York State Gaming Commission before 1 December.
The commission then has until 31 December to issue up to three commercial casino licences, ensuring that the state collects the casino license fee(s) ahead of schedule.
Any approved project must pay a $500m license fee, have a minimum capital investment of $500m and will be subject to minimum tax rates of 25% for slot machines and 10% for table games.
