Wynn Resorts Pulls Out of NYC Casino Licensing Race

Wynn Resorts said this week that it has become clear through the rezoning process that there are better uses for its capital. Wynn had partnered with Related Companies to develop an integrated casino resort in the posh Hudson Yards neighborhood of Manhattan, where high-end shops and restaurants already draw crowds.

Wynn Resorts has surrendered to the inevitability of "years of persistent opposition," according to a company news release.

It is the second casino giant this spring to throw in the towel on a New York gaming license.

Las Vegas Sands announced alongside its first-quarter earnings in April that it would no longer pursue a license for the site it had been working to develop at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. It blamed the specter of competition from iGaming, or online casino games, should the state legalize such offerings.

Sands is working to find a third party to "transact the opportunity to bid for a casino license," widely interpreted to mean another company that would pay to take over a project that has cost the company years of effort and tens of millions of dollars.

But privately, casino executives from more than half a dozen companies have complained that the process of winning a casino license in New York state has little to do with the merits of the proposals, but instead is highly politicized and expensive — and keeps getting delayed.

MGM Resorts and Resorts World, owned by Genting Group, have been presumed front-runners for winning two of the three licenses to be awarded because they already operate gaming operations with slots only — no live table games.

Steve Cohen, owner of Major League Baseball's New York Mets, has partnered with Hard Rock International, owned by the Seminole Tribe in Florida, to develop an area near Citi Field for a casino.

Caesars has partnered with SL Green and Roc Nation for a gambling palace in Times Square.

But Wynn says "any casino operator" will face stiff opposition for years to come. The company said it will instead spend its capital on stock buybacks and existing and upcoming developments. It is building the first casino resort in the Middle East in the United Arab Emirates.