Wynn Pulls Bid for Aqueduct Racetrack
The Wynn Resorts recently pulled their bid for a New York casino at Aqueduct. New York Governor David Patterson was pushing heavily for the deal to go through for the Aqueduct Racetrack. Thus far the racetrack has been struggling due to the economy and the state was pining to install a slots parlor that houses 4,500 slot machines in the facility. The recession has brought many race tracks around the country to their knees in terms of funding. They are somewhat a “dying breed” because customers aren’t gambling at them. The biggest problem is that customers aren’t visiting them at all. Many cities are hoping that installing huge slots parlors maybe the answer to their financial woes and New York was no different.
The Wynn Resorts were one of six different developers that has formerly submitted bids to work with the Aqueduct Racetrack. Each one was looking to bring the 4,500 machines to the track and cash in on the revenues. Unfortunately the Wynn rethought its position and walked away from the bidding process. In a statement the Wynn released it noted, “We are confident that the state of New York will find a qualified operator to meet its needs at Aqueduct. We would like to thank our associates and community leaders for all their assistance in crafting our proposal.” They wished the state and the racetrack well and withdrew from competition for the bid.
Without Wynn, there will now be only five proposals on the table to be reviewed. The five developers have been notified to submit their final proposals. They were also informed that they should be prepared to ante up the $200 million licensing fee within thirty days of signing an agreement. With the recession’s aftermath still stinging, New York is hoping to ensure that companies that are now bidding on the project will have the financial strength to compete any project that they are starting to work on. The $200 million licensing fee is hoped to thwart any moderately serious bidders from entering the competition. The city wants the racetrack to be successful and hopes that a hefty slots parlor will be the answer to spurring traffic and revenue for the state budget and the facility.
Tags: Aqueduct, bid, race track, Wynn
