Gaming Operators Line Up to Bid for Control of Aqueduct Gambling
The state of New York had awarded the contract to operate a casino at Aqueduct Race Track to Delaware North, but the company's inability to finance the project has caused the bidding to begin again. This time the project has drawn far more interest, bringing some of the biggest names in casino management into the process.
Gaming experts say the proposed casino may generate as much as $1 million daily, perking the interest of the biggest US casino operators. MGM Mirage, Penn National Gaming, Wynn Resorts, and Hard Rock join Aqueduct Entertainment and Aqueduct Entertainment in placing bids with the state.
New York Governor David Paterson says his staff will submit a recommendation to him, possibly as early as Friday, specifying an upfront payment expected to be in the hundreds of millions. Paterson will need to coordinate a choice with the leaders of the state Assembly and Senate, a prospect that might require some negotiation.
"It's not surprising that everyone has come out of the woodwork for this opportunity," Macquarie Securities analyst Joel Simkins said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "It's going to be lucrative, and it's a license to print money, per se."
The casino will carry a thirty-year lease, and is expected to hold 4500 slot machines.
