The boss for American casino operator Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment Incorporated has reportedly revealed that his company is prepared to wait up to six years to open a gambling facility at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in northern New Jersey.

According to a report from the Associated Press news service, Jim Allen, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer for Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment Incorporated, made the disclosure during a press conference to celebrate the 20th birthday of the Florida firm’s Hard Rock Cafe Atlantic City.

“We’re committed to the state of New Jersey for the long term,” said Allen, who reportedly has a background in the Atlantic City casino industry dating to 1979.

Allen, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer for Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment Incorporated parent Seminole Gaming, was speaking after the New Jersey Allowance For Casinos In Two Additional Counties Amendment, which was also known as Public Question One, was defeated via a public referendum on November 8 with only 22.32% of the vote.

But, key New Jersey legislators followed this setback by declaring that they may now push for far more specific legislation to bring only one casino to the north of the state with the giant East Rutherford multi-sports and entertainment compound seen as a political winner.

Jeff Gural, the operator of the Meadowlands Racetrack, has also expressed renewed interest in partnering for a casino at the giant Bergen County site while the Associated Press cited independent analysts and casino industry officials as declaring that such a facility could become one of the most profitable in the nation, at least until New York legislators permit gambling venues in Manhattan.

Seminole Gaming is owned by the Seminole Tribe Of Florida and operates six casinos encompassing including the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel And Casino Hollywood and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel And Casino Tampa as well as Seminole Casino-branded venues in the Florida cities of Immokalee, Coconut Creek, Hollywood and Okeechobee.

Allen reportedly declared that he is additionally prepared to support a plan advanced by New Jersey General Assembly member Ralph Caputo that would authorize slot machines at the eastern state’s racetracks by reclassifying them as “video lottery terminals” under the auspices of the already legal lottery. However, this scheme would rely on a decades-old legal opinion that such a move is permissible without state-wide voter approval, which is something even the Democratic representative has acknowledged might not now be the case.

“Certainly we are 100% receptive to expanding and creating these jobs here in the state of New Jersey,” said Allen.