Considering the resounding success of mobile sports betting in New York, leading industry operators showed interest in securing one of the state’s three new downstate casino licenses. The fierce competition was joined by industry giants, including Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts International and several other bidders. Overall, nearly a dozen bidders joined the race for a downstate license, acknowledging the exponential potential of such a victory.

Steve Cohen, the New York Mets’ owner, also joined the bidding for a downstate casino license in New York. Details regarding his intention to build a casino near Citi Field, his team’s home stadium, emerged last year. Upon announcing that he decided to join the race, Cohen said that the new casino is expected to deliver entertaining experiences for Mets fans before and after home games. He also did not rule out that such a venue can help propel interest in the area, attracting more visitors than before.

Now a new report reveals that the Mets owner is trying to spice things up for his casino license bid in New York. As announced by Spectrum News NY1, earlier this week, Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management presented a multi-billion-dollar plan for the development of the area near City Field. Besides the casino, Cohen reportedly plans to introduce significant improvements to the area, including five acres of athletic fields and 20 acres of park space using City Field’s parking lots.

Moreover, the ambitious plan seeks to create easy access to Willets Point station. Further improvements to the area include investments in senior and youth programs, as well as additional health care, legal and immigration services for the community in the area. Reportedly the project has a price tag of $8 billion.

The Casino Proposal Is Important for Communities in the Area

While undoubtedly, there are positive sides to the casino proposal, not everyone agrees. At a town hall meeting on Wednesday, New York Sen. Jessica Ramos spoke about the importance of the casino bid in the area for communities. “I still think not enough community members know about either proposal or that there is this possibility of a casino coming, and our community does deserve to know,” she explained.

Sen. Ramos is among the decision makers for the casino bid considering that she will be appointing one out of five members within a special community advisory committee that will vote for or against the proposed project.

Cohen became the owner of the Mets after a deal for a staggering $2.4 billion back in 2021. At the time, he purchased the famous MLB franchise from the Wilpon and Katz families ahead of the start of the MLB season.

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Steve Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets MLB franchise, has plans to construct a new casino next to the team’s home stadium, Citi Field. Cohen hopes that the new property would attract more people to the area. The move would mirror other franchises’ efforts to attract people to their stadiums.

During Sportico’s recent Invest in Sports conference, Cohen regretted the lack of activities around Citi Field. He jokingly said that the only thing people can do around is “get their hubcap changed or maybe get back a catalytic converter.” He described the area as “50 acres of cement.”

According to Cohen, the new casino would provide NY Mets fans with something to do before the game or after the game, increasing interest in the area.

The MLB franchise owner also noted that his team will no longer “invest in ballparks” and will instead try to create experience sports fans actually care about.

I have tons of ideas I want to implement. You can’t spend an unlimited amount of money, so you’ve got to budget. And also, dealing with the underinvestment that I had to deal with coming in. I call it the money pit.

Steve Cohen, owner, NY Mets

The owner concluded that Citi Field is an “unpolished gem” that he hopes to turn around.

Cohen’s casino proposal isn’t the first time someone has tried to develop the area around Citi Field. A year ago, NY Mayor Eric Adams unveiled plans for an adjacent MLB stadium.

Cohens’ proposal comes as the race for NY’s three casino licenses rages on.

Cohen Is Passionate about Investing in the Mets

Cohen purchased the NY Mets from the Wilpon and Katz families back in 2021, prior to the start of the MLB season. The deal cost the businessmen a staggering $2.4 billion.

Despite the significant investment, Cohen revealed that he enjoys being a team owner to the point where he would consider buying another team. However, the businessman prefers to get the NY Mets right first before considering another such investment.

Cohen said that his job as a team owner has been much more satisfying than his hedge fund ventures because people now actually “care about him.”

Meanwhile, Cohen continues his search for a chief executive officer of the Mets. He said that many of the candidates seem nice at first but fail to impress him once he meets them a second time.

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A majority of Queens residents would favor a casino near Citi Field in Queens according to a survey conducted on behalf of the group pushing for the casino.

Residents Open to the Casino Idea

The survey was conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research on behalf of New Green Willets, the firm lobbying for the casino plan near Citi Field, from April 7 to April 14 among 600 Queens residents, according to the memo sent by the research agency to the lobbying firm on Monday.

The survey revealed that 78% of the borough residents supported the casino project upon receiving further details of the plan, while 65% of the respondents became more supportive as soon as they had been told that the casino hotel would also feature a live music venue and conference spaces, besides casino gaming.

The memo depicting an overall public openness to a casino in the area did not provide details about residents from which neighborhoods had participated in the survey or a geographical breakdown of the results.

The casino in northern Queens is competing with Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Long Island for one of three $500 downstate casino licenses but two of the licenses are expected to be awarded to existing racinos in Yonkers and southeast Queens, intensifying the competition for the final permit.

The New York State launched the bidding process in January and bids are centered on community input, requiring a two-third approval from a panel of representatives, including the mayor, governor, local Assembly member, state Senator, local City Council member, and the local borough president.

The northern Queens casino project is pushed by New Green Willets, a lobbying company with close ties to the owner of the New York Mets, Steve Cohen, which is working behind the scenes to gather the required public support for the casino planned to be built on 50 blocks of asphalt by the ballpark.

The idea of a casino near Citi Field is not met without resistance: in March, its opponents gathered at a library in Flushing and held a press conference during which they urged the local authorities to reject the plan.

A survey conducted by Siena College in January revealed that support and opposition to a casino in Manhattan was balanced as 38% showed support of the idea and 38% opposed it.

Other candidates for one of the downstate casino licenses are seeking to build a casino in the Bronx and at Coney Island in Brooklyn, but an early favorite is seen in the project seeking to put a casino at the Nassau Coliseum site on Long Island.

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