Resorts World upped the ante by pledging an additional $100 million to the state for a licensing fee, and projecting $18 billion in total tax payments in the first decade of operation.

Metropolitan Park boasted 42,100 total jobs, and an estimated $33.5 billion in total tax revenue over 30 years.

Both Resorts World and Metropolitan Park declined to comment on MGM’s withdrawal.

Queens could get two

While it’s not guaranteed, the odds that the World’s Borough could get two casinos, and another on its doorstep, significantly increased following MGM’s withdrawal.

While nothing is stopping the state from not awarding all three licenses, or even awarding none – something members of the state gaming commission have said publicly – insiders find it unlikely the commission goes that route.

“It’s simple math — three applicants left, three licenses,” said Queens State Senator Joseph Addabbo, the chair of the senate’s Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, who represented Resorts World before redistricting several years ago. “It’s common sense to issue all three at this point.”

If the state didn’t approve all three, Addabbo argued they’d be leaving chips on the table.

“By leaving any on the shelf, that leaves thousands upon thousands of construction and post-construction union jobs, good jobs…it leaves hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, both to the city, the state, and even the MTA,” he said. “Why would you do that?”

If the Gaming Commission ultimately did as Addabbo suggests and awarded the licenses to the remaining three projects, Queens could become the center of a new gambling and casino market unlike anything in the region short of Atlantic City.

“It’s a windfall for Queens, and it changes the whole makeup of the borough,” said Addabbo. “Queens becomes a bigger economic engine for the city.”

Should all three be awarded licenses, the planned casinos would be close to an hour’s drive from each other, and all within about 23 miles.

Bally’s and Metropolitan Park would only be separated by a 15-minute drive up the Whitestone Expressway.

In their statement announcing their withdrawal, MGM named the potential closeness of the projects and market cannibalization as a top concern, but Addabbo, a strong supporter of casinos, doesn’t have the same worry.

“The idea here is they will have a following, like the ones in Atlantic City with proximity to each other,” he said. “They’ll offer different amenities. They’ll offer different plans and programs and rewards and all that stuff. They’ll all find their own niche, so to speak. I think they can coexist.”

The lack of concern is shared by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who repeated his catchphrase when asked about MGM exiting the field.

“Queens get the money,” he said.

“Borough President Richards has been clear throughout these planning and public engagement processes that both the Resorts World and Metropolitan Park proposals are game-changers for Queens,” his spokesperson Chris Barca added. “Each project will generate immense economic benefits for Queens in the form of thousands of new jobs and contracting opportunities for small businesses and street vendors, all while securing our borough’s place as the cultural and entertainment capital of New York City. Both projects are community-centered, rightfully deserve state licensing and have always been the two most sensible proposals on the table.”

Richards strongly supported both Queens casino bids, voting for both of them as a member of their community advisory committees, and isn’t worried about cannibalization.

“It [won’t] happen,” Richards said to reporters following Metropolitan Park’s committee vote in September. “It’s two different worlds, Resorts World is so far east…I don’t see it cannibalizing.”

There do remain some concerns regarding problem gambling, and gambling addiction, as access to gaming has only increased in recent years with the growing popularity of mobile gaming and the legalization of sports betting.

According to the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports, New Yorkers in inpatient or outpatient treatment with gambling addiction increased 46.3 percent from 2020 to 2023. Calls to the state’s addiction hotline increased 22 percent from 2021 to 2022, the largest single-year increase on record.

Sweetening the pot

As MGM folded, Resorts World and Metropolitan Park upped their ante and went all in.

This week, both projects turned in their supplemental plans to the state made up of additional ideas and promises to make their proposals more appealing to the state commission.

In Resorts World’s supplemental plan, the Malaysian-based gaming conglomerate suggests that a full casino at Resorts World would generate the most revenue of any of the remaining plans, ranging from $3.3 to $4.6 billion by 2031.