Nassau Coliseum Casino Likely Dead, County Official Admits

_{Nassau Coliseum, once slated for a major casino development, may now pivot to a non-gambling entertainment after Sands' withdrawal. (Image: Kevin Schultz/CSM via ZUMA Wire)}

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman all but admitted that the Nassau Coliseum won’t be the site of a bid for a downstate casino destination license on Thursday, saying that officials were going to have to move on to “Plan B” for the site.

Blakeman made his comments to Newsday on Thursday, June 5, while in Albany to promote other Republican-supported bills in the state legislature.

Sands Withdrawal Left Casino Proposal Without Operator

The Nassau Coliseum casino proposal has been imperiled since Las Vegas Sands backed out of the project on April 23. Sands said that due to both the likelihood of online casinos being legalized in New York and uncertain economic conditions, it was no longer interested in running a casino resort in the state.

However, Sands didn’t declare the project dead. The company has a 42-year lease for the Nassau Coliseum property and is working its way towards gaining a 99-year development lease for the site, which is currently under environmental review and will need to be approved by the Town of Hempstead.

Because of its interest in the property, Sands officials said they would seek another gaming operator to run the casino while it maintained control of the site itself. 

Sands reportedly talked to several potential operators, with Newsday reporting in May that DraftKings was among those the company reached out to.

However, none of those efforts have produced a working arrangement. And with a June 27 deadline to apply for a downstate casino license, it now appears nearly impossible that such an agreement will be reached.

“I think it’s very, very unlikely,” Blakeman told Newsday when asked about the chances of a Nassau Coliseum bid being submitted to state gaming officials. “We are going to pursue a different direction.”

Zoning Changes Could Still Allow for Major Development on Site

As expected, Blakeman says that this new direction would still involve Sands developing the property, only without a gambling component.

“It’s going to be a place where people want to come,” Blakeman said. “There will be a sports and entertainment venue, a hospitality component, and there might be a convention center. We have no shortage of people who are calling the Sands and saying, ‘We want in.’”

The zoning changes in front of Hempstead officials would not only allow for gambling on the property but also a hotel, spa, restaurants, retail outlets, and open outdoor space. Debate in the town has been heated even with a casino on the site looking unlikely, with more than 90 comments in total submitted at two public sessions held on May 27. Hempstead officials will make their final decision on a later date.

If the Nassau Coliseum casino proposal is truly dead, that would leave eight known bidders in the running for up to three downstate New York licenses. These include new casino projects in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, as well as existing racinos in both Queens and Yonkers.