The Large Apple is about to roll the cube on playing, and lots of billionaire traders need to strive their luck at profitable the massive prize.

Elected officers have lastly approved one on line casino license within the Large Apple (that is proper—only one for a metropolis of 8 million individuals), inflicting a large and typically ugly bidding warfare between varied rich suitors.

One occasion is nonother than Jay-Z and his leisure firm Roc Nation. The entrepreneur well-known for saying, “I am not a businessman, I am a enterprise, man,” has teamed up with SL Inexperienced and Caesars Leisure to suggest constructing a Caesars Palace within the coronary heart of bustling Instances Sq..

In an open letter on Roc Nation’s Instagram and Twitter titled “It is Time, Instances Sq.,” the corporate made a case for why they need to be granted New York Metropolis’s playing golden ticket.

“The profitable group will need to have a observe document of turning phrases into deeds — of placing New York Metropolis and its residents first — individuals of all races, religions, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and socio-economic statuses,” the assertion mentioned. “Our proposal lays out an revolutionary plan that won’t solely draw extra vacationers to our metropolis however can even improve the lives of on a regular basis New Yorkers.”

Jay-Z’s plan guarantees to present again to surrounding companies, profit mass transit, spend money on sanitation and safety, and “ship a much-needed transportation plan,” amongst different issues. “Our bid commits $115 million for various theater applications that embody daycare for Broadway employees and their households,” the letter mentioned.

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An all-out bidding warfare

New York voters accredited of Las Vegas-like casinos of their state in 2013. However it wasn’t till final yr that elected officers in Albany approved on line casino licenses for downstate New York, together with New York Metropolis, Lengthy Island, and Westchester County.

The prospect of opening a completely operational on line casino within the largest metropolis in America has billionaires salivating to develop into the King of New York casinos. Apart from Jay-Z, different bidders embody New York Mets proprietor Steve Cohen, Gristedes grocery store scion John Catsimatidis, and Hudson Yards developer Stephen Ross.

“Each billionaire desires a on line casino. The epitome of success within the US is to personal your personal on line casino,” a supply advised The New York Submit.

Nonetheless, the billionaires have totally different concepts about the place they need to construct their casinos. Cohen has teamed up with Arduous Rock and desires to open a on line casino round Citi Discipline in Queens, the place the Mets play. Catsimatidis is eyeing Coney Island, well-known for its boardwalk, amusement park, and scorching canine consuming contest. Ross, who has partnered with Wynn, desires to place the on line casino within the newly developed Hudson Yards.

Accusations of a ‘misinformation’ marketing campaign

The Roc Nation letter, which additionally appeared in advertisements within the New York Submit, New York Day by day Information, and Amsterdam Information, accused some “conflicted events” of spreading “misinformation,” claiming that they had written the letter to set the document straight.

Whereas Roc Nation didn’t identify names, some imagine they could be referring to a coalition of Broadway theater homeowners and producers, the midtown Manhattan group, and tenant organizations calling themselves No Instances Sq. On line casino.

In keeping with an article in Deadline, the coalition opposes constructing a Caesars Palace in Instances Sq., additionally dwelling to most Broadway theaters, citing visitors congestion, financial disruption, and making the realm “much less welcoming to households.”