Resorts World Catskills posts disappointing May figures

In New York, an executive for the firm behind Resorts World Catskills has reportedly stated that the future of the recently-opened integrated casino resort remains optimistic despite the release of figures showing that it posted an average win per slot last month of only $99.

According to a Monday report from the Times Union newspaper, Charles Degliomini, Executive Vice-President for Empire Resorts Incorporated, explained that business at the 2,150-slot property is expected to improve once it opens other attractions including a Rees Jones 18-hole golf course and an indoor water park next year.

“It will take a much longer time period to accurately assess our business,” Degliomini reportedly told the newspaper. “In other words, we have four pistons in our engine and currently only have one operating.”

The Times Union reported that Empire Resorts ‘soft launched’ the 100,000 sq ft casino inside the Resorts World Catskills early in February before many of its restaurants and suites had been finished, while the intervening period has seen its average win per slot machine hovering at around $101.

“Right now they’re dependent totally on people from New York City and Rockland County and that takes time,” Gary Pretlow, a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly, reportedly told the newspaper.

Chairman for the New York State Assembly’s Racing and Wagering Committee, Pretlow reportedly predicted that business at the 332-room Resorts World Catskills will improve once the $1.2 billion property opens more facilities and begins attracting visitors from further afield.

Industry expert, Clyde Barrow, from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, told the newspaper that any average slot win figure below $200 ‘is not desirable’ and that the industry would consider the $99 sum recently posted by Resorts World Catskills (which was to be known as the Montreign Resort Casino until the signing of a naming rights deal with Asian gambling giant Genting Group last year), as very low.

Located on the outskirts of the small Catskill Mountains village of Monticello, the facility was the last of four non-Native American casinos to be licensed for upstate New York in 2014 and its compatriots reportedly fared a little better last month in terms of average win per slot. The nearby Tioga Downs Casino Resort saw its May tally hit $196 while the more distant Del Lago Resort Casino, Rivers Casino and Resort Schenectady recorded figures of $147 and $247 respectively.

However, the Times Union cited a January report from credit ratings agency, Moody’s Investors Service, as warning that the New York casino market may have reached the saturation point and that the opening of Resorts World Catskills could lead to further cannibalization from other upstate gambling operations including racinos.