A conference was held in Albany to host the 22 bidders vying for four casino licenses in New York State. The state’s Gaming Commission required all bidders for the licenses to attend the conference to ask questions about the process, but most questions were submitted in writing rather than asked publicly in front of the other bidders. The conference comes following the deadline for the application fee last week, a fee of $1 million. The fee money will be used for investigating the applicants and their proposals. The state is expected to announce sometime next month what it has determined as the minimum total investment required for any proposal. That minimum investment may knock some bidders out of contention before the formal applications are due by June 30th. Currently the three casino proposals for the Southern Tier region are the expansion plans at Tioga Downs in Nichols, the $150 million plans to expand Traditions at the Glen, and Rochester-based Wilmorite’s plans for a casino in Seneca County. The licenses are expected to be awarded in the fall.
