See Update Below: Licenses awarded

Today, regulators in the state of New York are expected to determine who will earn the three licenses for new casinos to be created in upstate New York. This area of New York already has Indian casinos and racinos, with several areas vying for the right to open a casino. Analysts of the gambling market believe that a casino expansion into the state will not help to bring in any additional monies as the market is already too crowded, however regulators are looking at the new casinos as a way to bring in any amount of money to help the state.

The state earns a major portion of their revenues from gambling with lottery games. The money earned by the traditional drawings of the lottery, video lottery terminals and instant games goes towards educational programs in the state. Last alone, the lottery gave the state $3 million.

Racinos have helped to push revenues up, especially in the lottery market, with the Resorts World Casino in New York City pushing this number up since opening in 2011. This casino is the closest the state has to a vegas-style venue, with over 5,000 electronic slot games and table games.

The lottery tends to bring in around $3 billion or more over the past five years and state Governor Cuomo has worked to tap into another stream of revenue from gambling. Back in 2013, deals were made with tribes that run the five Indian casinos in the state. A portion of casino slots revenue was given by the Oneidas with the Mohawks and Senecas began to make payments once again after halting payments to the state due to what they felt was unfair competition. This gave the state another $161 million for 2014.

The state is now looking to benefit from another area of gambling, as regulators are considering giving licenses to four casinos. Locations would be the Catskills, Southern Tier, Finger Lakes and Schenectady. The three license decision should take place today with a ruling on the Southern Tier casino also to be discussed by regulators.

The new casinos have been estimated to have the ability to bring in over $300 million to the government annually once launched. It is not clear as to if the new casinos would take away business from the existing casinos in the state and this has been a point of contention since the planning began with the Finger Lakes and the Lago Resort and Casino.

Update: Three casino licenses awarded in Upstate New York; Lago, Montreign, Rivers