Resorts World failing to uphold agreement, says SOANY

A New York State law was enacted in 2019 to allow — for the first time — for the operation of a VLT facility in Orange County recognizing the obvious impact that the new Resorts World Hudson Valley would have on existing harness racing operations and VLT facilities that law set forth three very specific conditions that would need to be met in order for the Resorts World Hudson Valley to open and operate in Orange County:

1) The first was a requirement that the horsemen at Monticello Raceway be paid 8.75% of VLT net win at Resorts World Hudson Valley and that 1.25% of the net win at Resorts World Hudson Valley be paid to the harness breeders fund. These payments are being made in accordance with the law.

2) The second was that a mitigation agreement was to be entered into with MGM Yonkers. The agreement was mandated in the law in view of anticipated cannibalization of the VLT revenues at MGM Yonkers by the Orange County facility. Again, this condition was met, and the mitigation agreement entered into provides for MGM Yonkers to receive substantial quarterly payments from Resorts World Hudson Valley.

3) The third condition was that Resorts World Hudson Valley pay the Yonkers horsemen’s purse account for any drop in their purses from what they were receiving in 2018, the year prior to the law’s enactment. In addition, the payment due the Yonkers horsemen would also reflect an adjustment for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to ensure that the purses paid to the Yonkers horsemen would be truly comparable to what they received in 2018. Importantly, the payment due the Yonkers horsemen is fully separate from 8.75% and 1.25%, respectively, which the law requires to be paid to the Monticello horsemen and the breeders (as indicated above, the Monticello horsemen and the breeders have received, and will continue to receive the payments due them).

Unfortunately, this third condition has not been complied with since the opening of Resorts World Hudson Valley in late December 2022. With the first full year of the Orange County facility’s operation ending on December 31st, 2023, the measurable year is 2023, and the Yonkers purses have decreased as anticipated, obligating Resorts World Hudson Valley to make the required payment to the Yonkers horsemen which would maintain purses at the inflation-adjusted 2018 level.

The SOA has made numerous demands for the payment from Resorts World Hudson Valley since April 2024, with no response until sometime near the end of July, after the SOA’s attorneys, Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C., of Garden City, New York, had already prepared an action to recover the funds due.

Resorts World Hudson Valley has obligations as set forth in the relevant statutes, which it fully understood would need to be combined with as a condition to its operation. Like all parties operating these alternative gaming facilities, Resorts World Hudson Valley has reaped the tremendous benefits involved in the operation of the facility. Indeed, it has been reported that Resorts World Hudson Valley generated gross gaming revenue of approximately 1 billion dollars in calendar year 2023. However, the statutorily-mandated payments – to all affected parties — are simply a cost of doing business, a cost that Resorts World Hudson Valley was fully aware of before it commenced operations.

From the Standardbred Owners Association of New York