New commercial casinos in New York have apparently failed to live-up to the state’s expectations.
Reuters reported that the newly opened casinos posted gambling revenues well below earlier forecasts, with gross receipts at one gaming hall off about 40 percent.
The three casinos reportedly remitted a total of $50.2 million to state coffers. The officials, who were interviewed at the annual meeting near the Saratoga thoroughbred track, failed to specify their expected tax revenue from these gambling halls for this year.
The New York State Gaming Commission was more understanding, saying that job creation and construction spending have exceeded expectations.
“The full amenities are not yet open,” said Robert Williams, executive director of the New York State Gaming Commission.
When he was still lobbying for the construction of new casino, Tioga Downs Casino owner Jeff Gural estimated that his facility would generate $32 million worth of taxes to New York. Fast forward to today, Gural was only able to send just $13.3 million in taxes through the end of June.
“I think the market is saturated and we’ve got a lot of work to do to get the revenues where they need to be,” Gural said, according to the report.
Rivers Casino & Resort, which opened in February, generated gross revenues worth $56 million through June 30 while Del Lago Resort & Casino reported $63.1 million in gross revenues in the five months since its February opening, 42 percent below its projected $263 million in annual revenues in its first year.
Resorts World, meanwhile, is set to become operational in March 2018.
New York, which changed the state constitution in 2013 to accommodate new casinos, uses 80 percent of the tax it collects from the new facilities to fund state education and property tax relief while 10 percent goes to surrounding counties in the region of the casino.
