Upstate New York Casino Facing Possible Bankruptcy

New York’s largest upstate casino is on the verge of bankruptcy after a few years of operation with the inability to turn a profit.

Resorts World Catskills reported a $36 million loss last quarter and is seriously considering turning to bankruptcy to square away debt on the $1 billion casino in Monticello, according to a report from the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Its parent company, Empire Resorts, is a publicly-traded company, but its largest shareholder is Genting Group, a privately owned Malaysian gaming company. In a filing with the SEC last Friday, Empire Resorts disclosed that it received a proposal from Genting to acquire the entire casino for $9.74 and take the failing casino into its entire portfolio, which includes a racino in Queens.

“We’re in a unique position where we can assist with the management of Resorts World Catskills through our Resorts World New York property at a low cost,” President of Genting Americas Ed Farrell told USA TODAY.

The filing also showed that through the end of June, the casino obtained operating losses of $73.5 million. If it doesn’t take the deal with Genting, or find another deal, the other option for Empire Resorts is to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would allow them to negotiate their debts with their creditors.

“We are currently generating operating losses as the casino revenues have not exceeded the costs related to the casino since its opening in February 2018,” Empire Resorts said in the filing.

The casino is falling well short of its projected revenues for 2018. After projecting $300 million in revenue this year, it is on pace to fall about $100 million shy of that mark.

The Genting Group is in the process of finishing construction on Resorts World Las Vegas. It is on pace to open in late 2020 on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip.

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