The casino industry in the state of New York could be defined as constantly providing topics for serious discussion and one of the latest is related to the allegedly over-saturated gambling field. According to experts in the field, the decision of Gov. Andrew Cuomo to give the green light to a constitutional amendment which expanded casinos back in 2013 has been a mistake, as at the moment the three new gambling venues located in the region of Upstate New York find it hard to meet the expected revenue goals and amass the needed amount of money.
Many people closely following the development in the gambling sector claim that the move which the authorities opted for was redundant and the region did not need such an expansion. As it was reported by Moody’s Investors Service, the three gambling locations are struggling to generate enough revenue and as of this moment, they are about $200 million short of the previously forecasted amounts. A noticeable tendency is that these venues are attracting many of the customers of the so-called racinos, which offer slot devices at racetrack locations. Alan Woinski, President of the news service Gaming USA, claimed that the area offers too many gambling options.
Furthermore, January saw the research company downgrade the rating of Casino del Lago located in the Finger Lakes. At the moment the location has a negative outlook for the future, as it was stated in the report, which means that del Lago might not be able to take care of its debt payments. It is true that the industry is providing many locals with a workplace and sufficient income, but there is also the warning that there are already too many casino locations in the region. Back in 2013, the forecasts stated that Upstate New York is going to see as much as $430 million from the operation of the gambling locations.
What the Future of Upstate New York Holds
It was recently announced that the 8th February is expected to see the official opening of the new Resorts World Catskills location which will offer a hotel and casino venue near Monticello. In relation to this news, Moody’s experts state that this move could prove to turn the area into a cannibalistic field, as all venue will be struggling to make a decent revenue. This prognosis is based on the downturn which the Atlantic City gambling market saw in the not so distant past. There were a total of 14 casino facilities in operation which quickly resulted in cannibalization and the closure of five locations.
The three currently operating venues are Tioga Downs, located in Tioga County, del Lago which welcomes customers in the Seneca County community of Tyre, as well as Rivers which is situated in Schenectady. On the other hand, there are also the facts supporting the construction of the fourth casino venue, stating that many local companies have been employed in the process and this has brought quite the revenue to the region.
