After getting the go light from its appointed committee, MGM Empire City will move on to the state level for a complete casino licence.

MGM Empire City won the fourth New York casino vote on Thursday morning. It was the first bidder for a downstate licence to get the go-ahead from its community advisory committee (CAC).

Local committees turned down all three of the prior bids, but Empire City got a unanimous 5-0 approval.

The state's Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB) will now take it to the next phase. That board will begin a new round of discussions, and they have until December 1 to provide suggestions on how to give out up to three casino licenses. The state gaming commission will give out the commercial licenses by December 31.

Everyone seems to agree that the offers from two racinos, MGM and Resorts World NYC, were the best. This was because they already had buildings, had paid taxes in the past, and had been part of the community for a long time. MGM used to be Yonkers Raceway, and it has been a video lottery terminal since 2006.

Even while these were good things for MGM, they were still worried about competition. MGM is the only one of the eight projects that made it to the CAC process that isn't in New York City. The company argued in its application that it needed a full licence to stay in business since it wouldn't be able to compete if three additional commercial casinos came nearby in the future. The committee seemed to agree with this point of view.

Before voting yes, CAC Chairman James Cavanaugh warned, "If Yonkers doesn't get one of the three full casino licenses, Empire Casino will wither and die." He also said that no one would prefer to go to "an ageing slot parlour" instead of a full-service casino. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, who is the project's strongest advocate, chose Cavanaugh to be on the CAC.

What will happen next in the GFLB process?
MGM has now finished the CAC process and must pay the state a $1 million application fee. Then, the GFLB, which is made up of four appointed members, will look at the project using a number of different standards. The following people are on the board:

Vicki Been is the chair. She was appointed in 2022 and is a professor at NYU School of Law.
Terryl Brown: Vice President and General Counsel of Pace University, appointed in 2025. Marion Phillips III: Senior Vice President of Community Development and DEI at US News and World Report, appointed in 2025.
Greg Reimers: Retired finance executive, appointed in 2025
The first thing to think about will be how each project will affect revenue. According to the board's website, this means looking at "the revenue impact of each applicant's proposed gaming facility on existing facilities and potential new facilities." As part of the application process, bidders had to give estimates based on how many licenses will be given out and where.

Also, each project will be judged on four weighted categories:

70% of the time is spent on business development and economic activity.
Local Impact Siting (10%)
Improving the Workforce (10%)
10% of the Diversity Framework
MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle remarked at a recent conference that taxes are another "quirk" of the process. Bidders can suggest their own tax rates, but they must start at 25% for slot revenue and 10% for all other gaming revenue. But the current VLT tax rates are around 55%, and Hornbuckle indicated that MGM is anticipated to at least match that level while still keeping its current horse racing purse commitments.

MGM was the first to accept changes.
The MGM committee was the first to approve changes made by the bidder, unlike the prior three CACs that voted. All three people who voted against the plans sent in their ballots within days after the votes, except MGM's was filed on September 17. After a week of discussion, it seemed like the changes were finally approved by everyone.

The committee that looked at Bally's Bronx was the only CAC that asked its bidder for revisions. In that scenario, Bally's did answer the long list of requests, and now it will have to vote on Monday at 10 a.m. The Coney, on the other hand, has filed a lot of changes even though at least three members have said publicly that they will fight it. There have been no changes made by Resorts World or Metropolitan Park.

MGM's agreed changes include more safety and infrastructure promises, a minimum city revenue requirement that starts at the amount of current contributions, paying the city back for construction costs, and other concessions.