One Theory Suggests Gural Will Be Rewarded for Keeping Tioga Downs Open All These Years
Jeff Gural, the owner of Tioga Downs Racetrack, continues to seek a license to build a casino in the Southern Tier of New York. This is the second time the New York racing millionaire has offered a proposal to the state Gaming Commission’s siting panel, but Gural is hoping for better luck with his second proposal.
In the first round of licensing, Jeff Gural’s proposal for an expansion of Tioga into a full casino was rejected. At the same time, the gaming officials left a spot open for a Southern Tier casino, because only 3 of the 4 potential gaming licenses were allotted.
$125 Million Expansion Plan
Now, Gural has resubmitted a development plan which he calls a major improvement over the 2014 proposal. The owner of the Tioga racecourse takes heart that he is the only show, because no other licensees stepped forward.
Added to those reasons for optimism is the fact that officials know the Southern Tier needs to economic boost. When the casino licensing initiative first was championed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, the main reason given for the expansion of gaming was to help the local economies in depressed regions of the state.
The new proposal includes more than a 25% increase in funding. The new proposal includes $125 million in renovations and expansions. The 2014 plan involved $105 million in expenditures, but $15 million of that proposal was for a new parking garage which has since been completed, so the new bid offers an additional $35 million in renovations.
Expansion of Tioga Downs
Tioga Downs Casino & Racing currently has 800 slot machines at their racing venue. Under the new plan, slots row would include 1,000 gaming machines, while 50 table games would be added to the expanded gaming floor.
The original proposal came up against a bidder who was willing to spend four times the amount of Jeff Gural. Thomas Wilmot’s Lago Resort bid involved a $425 million casino development in Tyre. Ultimately, the Lago Resort bid won a license for the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes area.
Kevin Law’s Support of Lago
Kevin Law, who serves as chairman of the New York Gaming Facility Location Board, said there was no compelling choice for the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes license. Kevin Law at the time said the decision was essentially “Lago Resort or nothing”.
At the time, a frustrated Jeff Gural said the Facility Location Board had made “an idiotic decision“. Now, he is going to go before those same board members and ask for a license. Events have changed since December 2015, though. Tom Wilmot just this week shut down construction on the Lago Resort, because the citizens group, Casino Free Tyre, won a court case which said the county issues permits to Lago which broke state laws. While the casino in Tyre is almost certain to be built, the commissioners might want to hedge their bets with an expansion of an already-existing gaming facility in the region.
Gov. Cuomo’s Support
Also, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has stated he believes a fourth license should be offered. The governor of New York had said he would not meddle in the licensing decisions, but a few weeks after those decisions were announced, Cuomo began to lobby for the siting panel to issue a fourth license, for the sake of local economies. Cuomo was criticized for breaking an earlier pledge, but the administration’s views are now a public matter.
Political will might exist to help Binghampton, too. When the licensing process was first announced in 2013, Gov. Cuomo was in Binghampton discussing economic turnaround plans. Some locals saw that as a sign Cuomo supported a gaming initiative in the area. On the day the license was announced for Tyre and not Binghampton, the Cuomo Administration also announced a ban on frakking in the state. Binghampton sits on a reserve of naturual oil, so the news was seen as a double-blow for the local economy. Cuomo and his officials might want to make good on the supposed promises of the past.
Jeff Gural is optimistic his time has come. He told the New Jersey Herald in a recent interview about the siting panel changing course, “I don’t see how they could not, truthfully. The governor…made it clear that he thought there should be a casino in the Southern Tier.”
John Sabini on Jeff Gural
John Sabini, former chairman of New York’s Racing and Wagering Board and now a consultant in the gaming industry, says officials might want to reward Jeff Gural’s loyalty to the state.
Sabini said, “This is a guy who owns two race tracks in central New York that were not exactly considered moneymakers and stuck with it and actually did a great job, so I’m not surprised that he’s bullish on casinos where he has sites.“
