{"id":3508,"date":"2025-10-15T11:14:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/?p=3508"},"modified":"2025-10-15T11:14:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:14:19","slug":"mgm-pulls-out-of-yonkers-casino-plan-leaving-city-stunned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/mgm-pulls-out-of-yonkers-casino-plan-leaving-city-stunned","title":{"rendered":"MGM Pulls Out of Yonkers Casino Plan, Leaving City Stunned"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/empire-city-casino.jpg\" alt=\"Empire City Casino\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-3509\" width=\"300\" title=\"MGM Pulls Out of Yonkers Casino Plan, Leaving City Stunned\" \/><strong>Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>MGM abruptly withdrew its $2.3 billion plan to expand Empire City Casino in Yonkers. <\/li>\n<li>The company cited new state rules and increased competition for the withdrawal.<\/li>\n<li>Bally\u2019s, Resorts World, and Metropolitan Park are still in the race<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A surprising twist has shaken up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/states\/new-york\">New York\u2019s casino<\/a> race. <strong>MGM<\/strong>, once seen as a frontrunner to bag a coveted downstate casino license, has suddenly <strong>pulled out its $2.3 billion plan to expand Empire City Casino in Yonkers<\/strong>. The move caught local officials completely off guard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>It was a gut shot<\/em>\u201d, said <strong>Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano<\/strong>, who said he learned about MGM\u2019s decision just as the application deadline arrived. \u201cIt was so much riding on this, and for MGM to basically pull out before we could even get together and try and, you know, fix the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, MGM called it \u201c<em>a difficult decision<\/em>\u201d, citing new challenges in the state\u2019s casino licensing process. <\/p>\n<p>The company said the \u201c<em>newly defined competitive landscape, with four proposals clustered in a small geographic area<\/em>\u201d, had made it hard to justify the returns it initially expected. <\/p>\n<p>MGM also pointed to a recent change in <strong>state guidelines that would likely limit them to a 15-year license<\/strong> instead of the 30-year term they had anticipated.<\/p>\n<p>For Yonkers, the news hit hard. Residents and local leaders had been counting on the project to create jobs and boost the local economy. \u201c<em>I\u2019m really sorry to hear that<\/em>\u201d, said longtime resident <strong>Angelo Deluise<\/strong>. \u201c<em>Because in reality, it would have meant more jobs coming to the neighborhood.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;height:0;padding-bottom:56.25%\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vx6qg7Zb6Ow?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0?ecver=2\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;left:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"controversial-bid\">Controversial Bid<\/h2>\n<p>MGM\u2019s exit leaves three major contenders vying for the state\u2019s three available casino licenses: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/new-york-mets-owner-steve-cohen-adds-8bn-to-community-investment-in-casino-proposal\">Metropolitan Park Casino<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/resorts-world-announces-5-billion-expansion-proposal\">Resorts World New York City<\/a>, both in Queens, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/ballys-pushes-casino-bid-with-free-bus-announcement\">Bally\u2019s Casino in the Bronx<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Bally\u2019s bid, however, it not without controversy. As per court filings in the civil front case against former President Donald Trump, the Trump Organization transferred the Ferry Point license to Bally\u2019s in 2023, an agreement \u2018that reportedly includes a clause that promise the organization an additional $115 million if Bally\u2019s gets its hands on a gaming license.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>The President stands to make about $115 million if Bally\u2019s gets its slices, and that is something that concerns me<\/em>\u201d Mayor Spano said. \u201c<em>That\u2019s why I\u2019m asking the governor to do an investigation.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The New York State Gaming Commission, which has the authority to issue up to three downstate casino licenses by the end of the year, has not said whether MGM\u2019s withdrawal will affect the overall process. <\/p>\n<p>With MGM out, the race for New York\u2019s next big casino project just got a lot more unpredictable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: MGM abruptly withdrew its $2.3 billion plan to expand Empire City Casino in Yonkers. The company cited new state rules and increased competition for the withdrawal. Bally\u2019s, Resorts World, and Metropolitan Park are still in the race A surprising twist has shaken up New York\u2019s casino race. MGM, once seen as a frontrunner to [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-industry","category-legal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>MGM Pulls Out of Yonkers Casino Plan, Leaving City Stunned<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MGM took Yonkers by surprise when it announced it would scrape its $2.3 billion casino plan, leaving local leaders scrambling as other contenders move ahead in New York\u2019s high-stakes casino race.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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